Stand
by LordCarey
Summary: AU, POST GOF, Voldemort comes back with a bang and the Ministry struggles to spring into action. Harry stumbles upon a girl, who opens his eyes to the harsh realities of the magical world... and his place. Lots of Angst, Haphne, Nevmoine and bad Weasleys, not as dark as it seems. Please Read and Review! Contains mature themes
1. Flight of Death

Stand

Flight of Death

* * *

_** "On three, Right?" Harry said. "One-Two-Three-"He and Cedric both grasped the handle. Instantly, Harry felt a jerk somewhere behind his navel. His feet had left the ground. He could not unclench the hand holding the Tri-wizard cup; it was pulling him forwards, in a howl of wind and swirling colour Cedric at his side._

_Harry felt his feet slam into the ground; his injured leg gave way and he fell forward; his hand let go of the Tri-wizard cup at last. He raised his head._

"_Where are we?" He said_

Cedric looked around and shook his head "No clue." He panted

Harry began to look at his surroundings and it appeared that he was in an old rundown graveyard. It was quite small and most of the gravestones were crumbling; He started to look around at some of the hazy names leaving a dazed and confused Cedric behind.

"Did you know the cup was a port-key?" Cedric asked.

"No clue." Harry shouted back.

All of a sudden his confused expression turned into one of a great horror, the name on the gravestone in front of him read Tom Marvolo Riddle and a few feet away sat a large cauldron filled with a murky substance.

His scar began to burn and he fell to his battered knees once again. "CEDRIC GET BACK TO THE CUP!" Cedric looked towards the doubled over figure of Harry trying to process what was going on; a wheezy voice pierced the air before Cedric could process what was happening, "KILL THE SPARE!" Harry looked up in enough time to see Wormtail fire a killing curse towards his fellow champion who promptly fell to the ground lifeless.

Shock rippled through Harry as he saw his fellow competitor and friend die by the hand of Wormtail. Pettigrew however didn't seem to give a rat's ass for killing an innocent man and dumped a disfigured looking baby into the nearby cauldron. Suddenly Harry found himself rising off the ground and unable to move as Pettigrew began chanting.

"Bone of the father…..Unknowingly given, you will renew your Son."

Wormtail looked quite frightened and hesitant but he still summoned a bone from under Harry's feet and dropped it into the cauldron as well. He then pulled out a shiny silver knife and gazed at in horror as he put just above his right hand.

"Flesh of the servant… Willingly given... You will revive your master." He trembled.

Pettigrew then brought his left hand down on his right wrist clutching the knife and sliced through his right hand as it dropped into the cauldron below.

He then turned to a struggling Harry knife at the ready. "Please don't do this!" But it was too late and Pettigrew dug his knife into Harry's right arm; Harry gave out a blood curling scream that rang out through the night as Pettigrew cut through his skin and then yanked the knife out covered in his blood.

He walked back over to the cauldron and dabbed the bloody knife into the water and turned the substance a murky blood red. The cauldron began to bubble as Wormtail said the last phrase of his chant.

"Blood of the enemy…. Forcibly taken, you will resurrect your foe!"

With his chant over Wormtail stepped back from the cauldron and cradled the stub of his right arm while gleefully watching the scene in front of him. The cauldron began to simmer and sparks started to emanate on the surface.

Harry began to realize what was going on and hoped that the horrendous monster inside the cauldron would drown and die, but it was all for naught as a dark skeletal figure rose from the cauldron.

Lord Voldemort had returned.

**~oOo~**

The students of Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang watched in confusion as the big magical screen showing the champion's progress in the maze showed the Hogwarts champions grip the cup only to have it act as a portkey and whisk them somewhere far away.

The ministry officials, Dumbledore, Maxim and Karkoroff all looked extremely confused and were discussing amongst themselves what had happened and where the champions were. The cup was supposed to melt away the maze revealing the victor to only be a few feet from where he or she started.

Obviously the question on everyone's minds was where in the world were Cedric Diggory and Harry Potter.

**~oOo~**

"Harry, my how you've grown."

Harry spat on Voldemort and turned his neck to try and identify the followers he had summoned who had not been named. Voldemort had not been pleased with his Death Eaters who had not come to his aid and he had just finished punishing them.

"Now, Now Harry surely those filthy muggle relatives of yours taught you some manners."

"I do not need to dignify you with a response." Harry huffed in all his Gryffindor bravery.

"Well if you think you're so high and mighty Harry Potter then duel me! Wormtail give Potter his wand and no one try to help me."

Harry was finally released from his body bind and was lamely tossed his wand. Harry accepted it and got to his feet clutching his still bleeding wand arm. He faced Voldemort and gave him a glare that rivalled Hermione's.

"Surely Hogwarts has taught you to duel Harry, first we bow."

Harry stood his ground and kept his glare and his wand trained on Tom Riddle Jr. The said Tom Riddle Jr. became visibly angered at Harry's defiance and pointed his wand at him and silently cast the imperious curse on Harry.

Harry felt the joyous feeling wash over him and the voice in the back of his head telling him to bow. Of course Harry had realized he was impervious to the imperious after Moody's class, though Harry wasn't just about to let his one advantage slip away so he bowed.

"Good, then we-."

Voldemort was cut off by Harry rapidly raising his wand and releasing several curses in rapid succession catching his foe by surprise. Voldemort looked quite surprised for a moment and was hit by the first three curses, but deflected the others off as if they were non-existent, but he still had been knocked to the ground and had cuts all over his body along with a broken leg.

He then gave a volley of his own to Harry who matched his spells. Harry's disarming charm collided with Voldemort's entrails expelling curse causing a magical shockwave to knock the death eaters to the ground as the spells locked. A silvery dome encased Harry and Voldemort and the spells turned into a narrow bright gold light that connected the two wands, Harry's wand began to vibrate and he could feel a tremendous amount of power being surged through it.

Voldemort looked just as confused as Harry but quickly became angry and tried to push more power into his spell but realizing he wasn't gaining ground he broke off the spell, collapsing the shield encasing them and the gold beam. The disruption of the beam caused both combatants to fall to the ground; the death eaters rushed over to aid their master but he quickly brushed them off.

Meanwhile Harry collected himself and realized that he was out numbered and at an extreme disadvantage. He ran over to the cup in the Death Eaters distraction. However Voldemort wasn't about to let Harry get away and dashed over to his opponent. As Harry's fingers touched the cup Voldemort hand grasped his leg and both were whisked away from the graveyard leaving a stunned group of Death Eaters behind in the Graveyard.

**~oOo~**

Amelia Sian Bones, Director of the DMLE, Acting Minister for Magic, found herself being escorted by a contingent of ten Aurors to a press conference in the Ministry Atrium. Voldemort had risen from the dead and within five hours had killed the muggle Prime Minister, decimated the Royal family and had killed the Bulgarian and French Ministers and her boss Fudge leaving her in charge.

Within Hours the Muggle England would mostly likely fall to Voldemort. The Muggles would think the Assassination of the Royal Family would be caused by terrorists and the next prime minister would most likely be a pawn on Voldemort.

Seven of her department heads had already been killed in their homes along with a significant portion of the light allied Wizengamot members. She had personally informed all Wizengamot members to go into hiding and to protect their families.

Her niece Susan was safe at Hogwarts like many of the other magical children of Eastern Europe. The delegates from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang had decided to stay at Hogwarts indefinitely afraid of leaving the safety of the world renowned wards of Hogwarts.

The Auror force for the first time since the first fall of Voldemort in '81 had an actual threat. She had ordered all capable aurors to return to active duty and was trying to expand the force by having French and Bulgarian aurors sent to aid in the war.

She had called off the Black search for the time being determining him to be not as big a threat as Voldemort (She hadn't believed he was guilty in the first place but the evidence against him was insurmountable).

The Wizengamot was being called into an emergency meeting the next morning and they were to elect an Interim minister for magic to serve the last two years of Fudge's term; she was the leading candidate at the current time so it was likely that she would be in the highest office for a while.

Her Head Auror Rufus Scrimdgeur ran up beside her at a swift pace with an unnaturally grim face. He looked like he had been to hell and back and needed some shut eye.

"Amelia, I need to discuss some things with you."

"Could this wait? I am on my way to a press conference as you can see."

"The Wizengamot has convened already and are demanding you're presence."

"Why was I not notified? That meeting was supposed to be held tomorrow morning! Only I or the Chief Warlock may call an emergency meeting."

"Exactly, Dumbledore has called a meeting."

"Shouldn't he be dealing with the ICW at the moment? I realize Fudge relied on him heavily but I cannot have him giving me suggestions all the time."

"Well he is currently sitting in the Wizengamot chambers waiting for you."

Amelia let her eyes roll. She didn't have time for this at the moment; she could see Dumbledore becoming a thorn in her side in the future.

"Very well, Scrimdgeor you go do the press conference and I will deal with the Wizengamot."

Rufus gave her a sharp nod and Amelia set off in the direction of the Wizengamot Chambers at a brisk pace hoping to end the meeting fast, Though she did need to push a few bills through the Wizengamot such as officially declaring war and increasing the DMLE's budget.

She rapidly approached courtroom one, unlike the other courtrooms this one was quite extravagant; Two hundred booths were set up in a full circle around the walls of the room and were stacked up to the ceiling and there were around 50 booths per level. Each booth held two seats, one for the Seated Member and the other for his heir or wife.

The booths were organized with the newer members at the bottom and the older ones at the top, 90% of the seats were hereditary and the other 10 percent were reserved for the Minister and Department Heads. One seat represented one vote; however with the amount of pureblood families dying and the interbreeding between old families, many held more than one vote on the quorum, she herself as head of the House of Bones held 3 seats. As she recalled the Blacks held the most votes with a total of 12, back in the 1700's Copius Black the then head of family would marry his sons and daughters into families with votes on the council, he would then obliterate the families and as the closest relative family he would take the vote into his growing collection. Malfoy had installed himself as the Black Proxy in the last 10 years and had a supreme voting force of 18 votes as the current Head of House was incarcerated.

The Monarchy still held absolute power over the wizarding government as per the Statue of Secrecy; however they rarely exercised their authority. Directly across from the entrance to the chambers was the largest booth, which was situated on the 2nd level and was reserved for the Chief Warlock who was elected by the Wizengamot every 7 years at the winter solstice, Dumbledore had been the Chief Warlock since 1947 and had never faced any serious opposition since his original election.

As she strode into the almost full chamber to take her new seat at the Chief Warlocks left. Until now she had sat on the third level in the Bones Booth, However in this situation she needed to be recognized as Minister so as to push these bills through.

"Acting Minister Bones thank you for joining us."

She recognized the drawl of Lucius Malfoy anywhere, He wore a malicious grin and she presumed that a few hours ago he had been present witnessing his master's rebirth and was sent to stir up the cauldron of politics.

"Now that you're here we can finally begin, we have the pressing issue of electing an official interim minister, and I call for a vote."

Dammnit, she swore under her breath. She didn't have time for roadblocks at this time, but since Dumbledore had been kind enough to push the Wizengamot meeting up she needed to deal with the issue of interim minister now. From Dumbledore's facial expression he and Lucius had agreed on the fact that they needed their own pawns in the office of minister that was the only reason for Dumbledore to push the meeting up.

"All in favour of this motion?" Dumbledore asked

The majority of the Wizengamot raised their wands with a white glow.

"Motion Passed, this body will now accept nominations for an interim Minister."

"I nominate Madam Umbridge for the position." Called out Lucius Malfoy, his selection was quickly seconded. Amelia was nominated immediately after and her nomination was quickly followed by many others and soon the nomating round was done and the candidates had dwindled down to her, Lord Ogden and Senior Undersecretary Umbitch were left.

The three of them made their speeches and the Wizengamot voted once more to eliminate another candidate, the vote was Ogden-66, Bones- 79 and Umbridge-105.

A quick recess was called before Ogden would drop out of the running, however at this rate the election would go to Umbridge (who was undoubtly, imperioused or a pawn of Voldemort.

It was apparent that whoever Ogden chose to be Minister would be the decision maker, which meant she needed his support.

"Lord Ogden, Is it presumptuous of me to assume that you will be dropping out of the running?"

"No my dear Amelia, I will be leaving this debacle. I would never have accepted the position anyway, I am getting quite old. I assume you are here to win me over and get my voting bloc?"

"That would be the quick summary."

"Well you will have as you wish; over my soon to be likely dead body will that bigot Umbridge become Minister, Back in my day people got into the government on their own merits!"

"I appreciate your vote of confidence very much Lord Ogden."

She and Ogden walked back in to the chamber side by side when the recess came to a close. Malfoy's scowl was priceless as he realized what was going on. Umbridge's normally composed toad like features melted into one of bitter anger as she realized that she would most likely not be taking the job.

As soon as everyone had taken their seats; Lord Ogden rose to deliver his parting speech and was gathering the entirety of the Wizengamot on the edge of their seats to see if he would actually support Bones

"It is with a heavy heart that I depart this election, I hope that we can inflict many changes in a new administration, I believe that Acting Minister Bones is the best choice and should continue in her current position and with her efforts as Minister I am sure that we will see a change for the better."

By the end of his concession speech Lucius Malfoy's frown had turned into a look of bitter contempt that symbolized that Ogden would be dead within the next few days. Many people stood up and began to clap for Ogden as well and people began demanding for a final vote between Bones and Umbridge

The Final tally ended in a landslide victory for Minister for Magic Amelia Bones, 160 to 90. It seemed that that Umbridge had actually lost 15 votes during the last round.

With her becoming the official interim Minister for Magic she was able to push a proclamation of war through the Wizengamot. The Proclamation of War had been given and she was finally able to give aurors free reign in their attacks and the Aurors were now able to go on the offensive.

The War had just begun.

**~OoO~**

Emerald green eyes suddenly flashed open in the Hogwarts hospital as Harry Potter emerged from his slumber. Memories flooded into his mind of what had happened the night before; Voldemort had returned, Cedric and Fudge were dead and then everything went black from there on out, he assumed that he had collapsed from magical exhaustion.

He quickly realized that the Hospital wing was much fuller than usual. Many people were coming in and out and there were much more healers running about. He recalled Voldemort and Moody setting fire to the stands perhaps these were the victims?

And Moody what was up with him? He must have been a death eater but that wouldn't explain why he had lost much of himself fighting them and supporting the cause of the light. Perhaps he was imperioused? No he would have seen signs of it, what about the flask he had been drinking from all year, Could it have been polyjuice? That seemed to be the most likely and the DADA teachers that Dumbledore hired seemed to have the wool pulled over his seemingly all-seeing eyes. But who would be under the polyjuice? Defiantly a Death Eater, most likely a high ranking one, Dumbledore or Sirius might have some ideas.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by an enraged Madam Pomfrey inspecting him muttering about stupid trouble seeking boys raising the dead and whatnot.

"Well your magical core looks to have stabled out so you are free to go, However the Headmaster and Minister Bones have been requesting you're presence along with dozens of reporters. Do you have any idea how much trouble you've caused? Over the last 18 hours three minsters have been killed, the Royal family has been forced to flee the country and there are 300 people dead and much more injured, thankfully only 17 students were killed in that horrid fire but that was still a tragedy that should never have happened. Do you know how large the magical population of Great Britain is? People estimate it at a little less than a fifth of the muggle population, we have a little more than 310,000 magicals in the U.K and 300 were massacred last night!"

She went off into a rant about the upcoming apocalypse as she discharged him. Harry hadn't realized that the population was that small and how easily Voldemort could kill them.

He had no idea who Minister Bones was but assumed that since Fudge was dead that she was his replacement and probably was of relation to that Hufflepuff girl Susan Bones. He set a brisk pace towards the Headmaster's office and was too busy drowning in his thoughts that he didn't notice himself bump into someone.

"Oh sorry, I should really watch where I am going."

He recognized the girl as a Slytherin in his year, Daphne Greengrass if he could remember correctly. She had long wavy dirty blonde Hair and gorgeous blue eyes. She was becoming quite busty and had great curves. He hadn't realized how well she was blooming and how attractive she looked until now. She hardly talked to anyone besides Tracey Davis and held the reputation of being the Ice Queen.

"S'okay Potter, out of all of us you've probably had the worst last couple of hours. By the way what happened? We all saw the Dark Lord last night and Dumbledore has left the castle for some ICW and Wizengamot business so the castle is relatively in the dark on what's happening outside, well unless you count the front page of the prophet announcing You-Know-Who's return and a landslide victory for Susan Bones aunt."

"I just woke up from magical exhaustion a few minutes ago, all I know is that I'm being hounded by reporters and that I was forced to participate in some demonic ritual to bring Voldemort back to life."

"That's pretty disgusting, Well I must be going, my sister is in a panic wondering if our parents are okay are not, Next time watch where you're going."

"I will, see you around Daphne."

~oOo~

Daphne could not believe what had just happened, for a moment in time she had let her internal crush on the boy-who-lived take over and she let him see her with her guard down. She had a reputation to maintain and the second a pretty boy comes along she cannot just melt.

No she was not falling in love with the Clueless Harry Potter. He was such an enigma, He had a relatively small friends circle and acted completely ignorant of his heritage, Despite being a half-blood he came from one of the oldest and wealthiest families in Great Britain, yet he dressed like a pauper and ignored his family heritage.

Now that she had thought about she wasn't even sure where he had grown up or any of his background besides the fact that he was perhaps the most famous wizard besides Dumbledore and You-Know-Who. Had he even been raised in a magical family? She knew that he had many relatives on his father's side, in fact she was his third cousin twice removed and Draco Malfoy was his second cousin once removed, they shared the same great-grandparents.

What she also didn't understand why he clung to Granger and Weasel; His grandfather Charlus had been one of the elite members of the Wizengamot and was set up to replace Bagnold as Minister before his untimely death she was told.

The Weasleys held no political power in the wizarding world and Granger, well Granger was the epitome of everything wizarding culture stood against. So it begged the question of why those three were friends in the first place, she could understand him being friends with Neville Longbottom or Pavarti Patil but definitely not the Weasleys or Granger.

She had nothing against the Muggleborns. No she was even friends with a few of them in Ravenclaw, she just hated the way Hermione Granger carried herself acting like she knew everything about the wizarding world and shoved her opinion down everyone's throats with a lack of respect for tradition or understanding of it.

Take S.P.E.W for example, She bet that Granger knew nothing about why House Elves were enslaved to a Family. She would go around trying to free the Hogwarts house elves and couldn't take a hint that they didn't want to be freed.

The reality of the situation was that House Elves and their Masters served a symbiotic relationship. A House elf needed to be bonded to keep their innate magic working or they would die within a few years and slowly go insane. They depended on a Master for survival, the house elves lived to serve and without their cause they lost the will to live. So by freeing house Elves Granger was basically sentencing them to death.

Ronald Weasley was another enigma, surely as a pureblood he had been taught about house Elves as a child so why let Hermione continue the pursuit of S.P.E.W. The more she thought about it made sense that Harry Potter had not grown up with wizards as he should have or else he would have stopped Hermione and it would also explain his lack of knowledge of the Wizarding World and it's customs.

So then that must have meant that he would be living with his mum's relatives for some strange reason. Her parents would have gone to school at the same time as Lily and James Potter, perhaps they had some insight. She would have to ask them later.

She spotted Astoria moping around the Slytherin table in the great hall picking at some food with her fork. Her usually bright and cheery face looked like she had been crying.

"Hullo Daph, any word from Mom or Dad?"

"No, have you?"

"You don't suppose that they'll join the Dark Lord? I mean uncle Isosceles was one back during the first war."

Her Parents had always been more of a neutral pureblood family who saw substance in what the Dark Lord said but never agreed with his methods. During Voldemort's first rise to power they had never been marked but her father was known to have been part of the Death Eater voting block and her uncle Isosceles Greengrass was in You-Know-Who's Innercircle. She hoped that they wouldn't join the Death Eater ranks and get themselves killed like her uncle but it was always hard to tell with Cyrus and Jasmine.

"I sure hope not but you never know…. I mean they did sell you and me off to Draco and Theodore."

Her sister's face paled at the mention of her betrothed. When the last war had ended their Father knew he would rise again and to strengthen his position he betrothed Astoria to the Malfoy's and Daphne to the youngest Nott. Neither Sister liked their fiancé's much and could see their selves becoming trophy wives like Narcissa Malfoy.

She had hoped that her father wouldn't go through with it and asked her father not too sign the contract but he had. Her only conciliation was that he had left one loophole to get out of the contract, it said should a wizard of higher status take interest in Daphne or Astoria then the contract would be voided.

However the Nott's and Malfoy's were the upper crust of wizarding society and she knew there were stuck with their respective fiancé's.

Astoria was likely to end up a sister wife as per the Malfoy contract which said that Draco may take multiple wives should he chose and Daphne was pretty sure that that Parkinson bitch was betrothed to him as well.

She could only hope that someone like Harry Potter of an Ancient and Noble family take interest in her and be her knight and shining armour and take her away from Theodore Nott. That was partly why she had a huge crush on the boy-who-lived as he was one of the only potential suitors who could void the contract between her and Nott.

She realized that Harry Potter would never take interest in her and that was really the first time they had ever talked before. But a girl could dream.

* * *

1) I own nothing that you recognize.

2)The reason Umbridge wasn't Acting Minister was because the line of succession in my verse here goes Head of the DMLE then Senior Undersecretary, plus her being in that position wasn't helpful to the plot

3) Concerning the Potter family; In my opinion the Potter family must have been very wealthy and a long line of purebloods from hints in canon, for instance he was obviously directly related to Ignatius Peverall and the vault he visits in the first book was called Harry Potter's trust vault meaning there must have been a much bigger Potter vault somewhere in the bank.

4)I have not yet determined if I will make this a Manipulative!Dumbles or just an I'msorryI'verealizedmymistakesandwilld omybestfromnowon!Dumbledore. I hope to find a happy medium

5)Concerning Ron and Hermione; I have not yet decided about the Mione but Ron will defiantly be bashed, To the extent of the bashing I do not know.

6) Big thanks to my beta Anka7995!


	2. Problems

Problems

.O

Harry strode up to the castle in a glum mood; the week since Voldemort had returned had just been one tragedy after another. The death toll was rapidly approaching 1000 after Ottery St. Catchpole had been attacked, resulting in the end of many magical families. Perhaps Madam Pomfrey had been correct in her prediction about the coming apocalypse.

Dumbledore was still gone on ICW business and the Prophet was reporting that he was having much trouble on that front and might not be back anytime soon.

He had yet to hear word from Sirius and was becoming quite concerned for his godfather; though the fact that the Black search had been called off eased his thoughts.

Ron had started to get on his nerves with the constant worrying that he himself would perish, not his family or his friends, he was worried about himself. His parents had come to Hogwarts after the attack at St. Catchpole and had taken up residence in the castle for the time being. Ron's reaction to that was too move out of Gryffindor tower and into his parents new Suite.

Hermione however had not had her fears calmed by anything. She was no longer in contact with her parents, Hogwarts had begun to enforce a mail blocking system and as muggles they had no means of protecting themselves. She had tried to persuade McGonagall to provide her family with wards or magical protection of some sort but her plea had fallen on deaf ears and Hermione spent a day crying on Harry's shoulder.

It was one of the many things he hoped to remedy in the meeting with Minister Bones to which he was currently walking to. The Minister had been very vague in her wishes asking that he simply meet her; at least she seemed to be more competent than Fudge. He had never actually talked to Amelia Bones but had seen her many times this week visiting her niece, Susan in Hufflepuff.

He saw her standing in an Archway to the castle behind the stone circle with her regular auror guard. She looked to be in her mid-fifties and held a monocle over her left eye; her hair was a dark brown color that was starting to grey.

"Mr. Potter if you would follow me, you are dismissed Dawlish."

The aurors glanced at her questioningly but were silenced by her stern glare. The guards in turn glared at Harry before giving the two some distance as they re-entered the castle.

"It is a pleasure to finally meet you Mr. Potter."

"I could say the same thing Minister Bones."

"Well I'm not going to waste your time Potter and I'm going to get down to business, I need your support. The Ministry is divided and with your status you will be able to push those on the fence to my side so this war can be finished quickly."

"I don't understand how I fit into your plans, for the last year the press has made a mockery of me as has the rest of the wizarding world."

"Well your support has increased with the return of You-Know-Who and with your power in the Wizengamot we could be an unstoppable force."

"I don't see how I have any power in the Wizengamot?"

"Well the Potter Family is a widely respected one and holds 8 votes on the quorum."

"Are you saying that my family has 8 votes on the Wizengamot?"

"Yes, have you not been told?"

"Apparently there is a lot more in my inheritance than a trust vault with a few thousand galleons."

Amelia's face blanched at that one. Surely the saviour of the wizarding world knew of his lineage and status. His wealth was rumored to be on par with the Malfoy's and his family was one of the few magical families to have been granted peerage by the Crown.

"What do you know?"

"Well until I was 11 I was told that my parents were drunks and died in a car accident, I know of a vault set up by my parents for me and that's about it."

Oh boy, this child was in for a shock.

"Mr. Potter, why don't you come with me back to my office and we can have a drink."

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Amelia Bones finished pouring herself a fourth glass of firewhiskey. She had just finished the long story of his heritage and he had remained supringsley passive.

"So if I am hearing you right, I am the Baron Potter and Marquis Davenport, I own a massive estate and am a political force to be reckoned with?"

"Correct."

"And I was not told of this because?"

"Well I'm pretty sure everyone assumed that you'd grown up in the wizarding world and that you knew of your status. However you are correct in wondering why those closer to you would not inform you. The Muggleborn I can understand but the Weasley boy should know better, that's not even starting to think on Dumbledore's reasons."

"Back to the topic we were supposed to meet about, you're saying that you need my support on the Wizengamot."

"Yes."

"When am I allowed to claim my seats?"

"Normally orphans are able to claim them once they reach their majority at 17, however with no other members of your family to call regent you become emancipated at 15."

"So by the end of month I will be a Marquee and have too much money too count?"

"Yes and by then you will have been prepped on wizarding culture and traditions, I strongly suggest you stop by Gringotts to claim headship of your family and perhaps stay at one of the family manors, you could probably become emancipated before your 15th birthday with the wealth at your disposal."

"Thank you for the advice, I will aid you in your effort but I will request a few things. One, Sirius Black gets a full pardon."

"I'm sorry?"

"Free Sirius or I won't support you; did you know that he didn't even get a trial?"

She pondered what he had said for a moment. If Black were free she would have an additional 12 votes in her coalition and would take away a significant advantage the death eater block held.

There was also the matter that there had been no trial. She had to confirm it first but if that were true Sirius Black could walk in to the ministry and could not be legally killed or thrown back into Azkaban; the law _does_ state innocent until proven guilty.

"Well I can certainly get him a trial if what you say is true, but he would have to show up and would have to be cleared by the Wizengamot, I can truly say that I had no idea that he didn't have a trial and that will be investigated, I just-"

"Assumed." Said Harry frostly.

"Just like everyone else, the Wizarding World is a bunch of baphoons who believe everything they are told and it cost an innocent man 13 years of his life."

Amelia's face paled; she remembered the one time when a 3rd year Sirius Black had tried hitting on the then Junior Auror Amelia Sinclair who was enamoured at the time with Edgar Bones. Sirius Black, James Potter and Remus Lupin had been quite close and caused so much trouble together and she had never understood why Pettigrew had always hung out with them.

She and Edgar had become close friends with Charlus and Dorea and they quite often babysat James and Sirius when Dorea had to attend to some business at St. Mungo's and Charlus was doing something for the community. She had become somewhat of an aunt to James, Sirius and Remus (Charlus and Dorea never allowed Peter over because they despised the boy and knew nothing but trouble could come from him).

When the first war had broken out Edgar had been convinced by little Jamie to join the Order of the Phoenix which ended up getting Edgar killed. She had turned her back on James, Dumbledore and the Order and worked through the proper channels like a proper pureblood should.

The last time she saw James before his death was at Edgar's funeral where he just kept apologizing over and over; but she refused to talk to him. Three months later James and Lily were killed and Amelia had wept for a whole year, she had lost everything. Towards the end of the war after Edgar had died she had clung to her brother in law Reginald Bones, his wife Samantha and their young daughter Susan. Reginald and Samantha had not learned from Edgar's mistake and had continued with the Order. One night while she was babysitting her niece the two were killed, all she had left in the world was Susan.

She had shunned Sirius for not giving Jamie and Lily a chance at life. She had shunned anyone who followed Voldemort for the deaths of her family and friends. Now she was finding out that Sirius was indeed innocent and that she had turned her back on her only link to the past. The new facts crushed her and the fact that this boy, the son of Jamie was accusing her of being a mindless nobody enraged her.

"Get out." She spat coldly

"I'm sorry if I offended you but I was telling the truth."

"YOU KNOW NOTHING! GET OUT!" The boy made a beeline for the door as she slumped to the floor and started to sob for her mistakes

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD DDDDDD

Daphne Greengrass once again found herself with her sister Astoria sitting in the Great Hall discussing their impending marriages. Their parents were stopping by Hogwarts after lunch, she was anxious to see what would happen, had her parents taken the mark?

Her sister was very worried and was afraid that she would become a slave to Draco Malfoy and would end up having to take the mark as well. Daphne was very much in agreement with her sister but she couldn't let her Ice Queen persona slip any more than it had been over the last few days. She saw her Mother and Father approaching their seats in the Great Hall and motioning for them to follow them to somewhere more secluded.

Cyrus Greengrass was moderately tall and had a slim figure, his face was clean shaven and his dark hair was slicked back. Her mother Jasmine had her long blond hair in a mermaid tail that went down to her waist and was wearing a simple dull green dress. They both looked very agitated.

"Before we tell you anything we both want to tell you how proud we are of you two and how much we don't want to do this."

"Oh God" Astoria cried out as she lost her balance and falling to the ground in a blind daze.

"You are not doing this, Hogwarts is safe, and we can stay here!"

"Daphne we must do this for our protection, we have to take the mark or we'll all be killed."

"No father you'll be forever branded, we shouldn't have to bow down to anyone!"

"Daphne it is for the best."

"I can't believe you guys are doing this, we are going to end up like the Malfoy's, I refuse to take part in this, do what you will!"

"Daphne if there were another way…"

"No! get out of my sight, you two disgust me!"

O.O.O.O.O.O.O

Today was the leaving feast and everyone was in a somber mood. It was evident on all of the teacher's faces; it was evident on all of the student's faces. Everyone knew what everyone else was thinking but no one was talking about, most people didn't want to go home, in fact for two thirds of the Muggleborn population they wouldn't be. Hermione Granger though was going to go home.

She had been considering staying until she found out that Ronald was. A week before the third task Ron had plucked up enough courage to ask her out and she had readily agreed. But after a few weeks he had displayed his true colors and they had a big argument causing her to dump him. Now all she wanted to do was go home, curl up in her bed and blast Mariah Carey for the whole summer, she had been told that a new album had been released while she had been at school….

She hadn't seen Harry much since he left for his meeting with the Minister. He'd secluded himself in the library for the majority of the time and refused to talk with anyone; she hoped that he was okay.

She sensed that bad things were coming and she didn't know if she would live to see the end of the war partly due to her status as a Muggleborn.

When she got home she was going to convince her parents to flee the country to perhaps Australia. She didn't want to lose her parents, they had done nothing wrong.

Perhaps she would flee with them, there wasn't really anything left for her in the magical world, but was there really anything for her in the muggle world as well? She was an outcast in both societies and belonged nowhere.

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Harry hadn't had a great last few days. After Minister Bones had thrown him out of her office he had gone up to library and begun investigating his family tree, his heritage and his new responsibilities. The terms he had left Amelia Bones on had him slightly shaken. He hadn't meant to hurt her but he had obviously stricken a sore spot. He wanted to go and apologize, but he also wanted to give her some space before he approached her. Besides, she was a very busy woman.

He had sent a message to Sirius about his new situation and there had been no reply yet and Harry was starting to panic. The letters were also coming back unopened which meant one of two things; He was dead or hopefully he was in a safer location where mail could not be received.

He felt bad about Hermione as well, he shouldn't have ignored her when she needed him the most but he supposed that Ron and Hermione could get along fine together.

Dumbledore was only making things worse. Why had he been kept in the dark about his hereditary peerage and the large estate? Dumbledore not here to explain what was going on it frustrated him to no end.

He was brought out of his thoughts once again by Daphne Greengrass in a ball on the floor choking on her sobs. No pretty girl should have to feel like that, Seemed that the stress was getting to everyone.

"What seems to be the matter Daphne?"

"I'm fine go away."

"If you were fine then you wouldn't be curled up in a ball crying."

"Well if you must know I am having family troubles."

"That's the understatement of the week."

"Shut up Potter you know nothing about what I have experienced."

"Come on Daph what's on your mind, maybe I can help."

"…I'm being forced into a marriage contract with Theodore Nott."

"That sucks."

"You're telling me."

"And there's no hope of getting out of it?"

"Not unless he dies, want to help me plot a murder of a Death Eater."

"Every contract has to have a loophole."

"Well this one is ironclad."

"There's something you're not telling me."

"Damn Straight Potter, I'm not an open book."

"Is that an invitation?"

"Bugger off."

"Do I have to pry the answer out of you?"

"No, cause I don't have to tell you anything."

"I'll tell you a secret if you tell me yours."

"_A_ secret?"

"I ain't an open book either." He laughed

"Which secret?"

"I don't know, ask anything about me and I will tell you the truth."

"Fine, why the fuck do you dress worse than a Weasley, yet the Potters are supposed to be richer than the Malfoy's."

Harry's looked hesitant for a moment but in the end he decided to talk. He hadn't expected a question like that; he'd thought it would be along the lines of his adventures at the school.

"I was raised by my muggles relatives who locked me in a cupboard under the stairs from when I was 1 to 11…I was forced to do all the house work since I was still in nappies and I only realized the vast wealth I had at my disposal a few days ago. All the clothes I owned, besides my Hogwarts robes were hand-me-downs of my whale of a cousin."

Daphne's face of sorrow changed into one of horror, she realized she was looking at the real Harry Potter as much as he was looking at the real Daphne Greengrass. In public they both held a completely different mask but when they were alone they were more alike than one would think, Harry Potter was no Golden Boy and Daphne Greengrass was no Ice Queen.

"I'm Sorry."

"Don't be its not your fault."

"Nobody should have to endure what you've gone through."

"Enough of my past, I think you owe me the answer to the hidden loophole."

"Well one section of the contract says if a suitor of a higher status shows interest in the bride the contract will be rendered void."

"Well that's good, all you have to do is go gold-digging I'm sure there are plenty of fish who have a higher status than good ole Theo Nott."

"If that were true the Nott's wouldn't have signed the contract, the Nott's are among the top 20 in Europe."

"Well who else could marry you then?"

"Well the only families that have possible suitors are Denvar, Smith, Black, Malfoy, Macmillan, Brown, Longbottom, Greys, Rothlilith, and umm, you." She finishes with a small smile.

"Well so let's narrow down your options, Black, Malfoy and Dumbledore are out for obvious reasons; I have no idea who the Greys are, same with the Denvar family and the Rothlilith's. Zacharias Smith is a total basterd, you might be better off with Nott. Macmillan seems like a pretty nice guy. I wouldn't want to be stuck with a Brown, though they are a step up from Nott. Neville is a pretty great guy. Myself? I'm pretty self-explanatory." They both chuckled.

"Okay so you have given me 6 options, for your information the Denvar's and Grey's are schooled at Durmstrang and Beauxbatons respectively and are some of the richest families on the mainland who don't already have their sons in contracts, however they don't speak very good English and the Greys used to lock their brides in a tower until the wedding night. The Rothlilith's are completely out of the question, they would never accept new money. The Browns are all prudes no matter how much of a step up they are from Nott, Longbottom is my Second Cousin, MacMillan is a Hufflepuff and you…. you are an ego centric brat." She starts laughing uncontrollably at her last statement.

"Am not!"

"Prove it." She giggles.

Harry gazes into Daphne pearly blue eyes and soft face. Their eyes meet and Harry caress's her smooth dirty blonde hair and goes in for a kiss on her lips.

She doesn't react for a second and then hesitantly kisses back. The kiss only lasts a few seconds before Daphne breaks it off and dashes from the room in the blink of an eye leaving a stunned Harry behind.

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD DDD

Sirius Black woke from his slumber in the tattered old king bed in the Master Bedroom of Grimmauld Place. After the attack on Hogsmeade Sirius had been seriously (No pun intended) injured. He and Remus had moved in together at the Black ancestral Manor at Grimmauld Place.

There had been a lot cleaning to do and his Mother's portrait kept ranting about filthy half breeds and ungrateful blood traitors breaking their mother's hearts. Kreacher wasn't any better but at least he got the job done and wouldn't screech at the top of his lungs all day ranting about blood. His Mother had been furious at finding out that Sirius had never been disowned by his late grandfather Arcturus and would be able to inherit the Black Family holdings instead of "Narcissa's beautiful son".

He had restored the wards of the house up to full strength and would not let any letters or anything that could hold a tracking charm come in the house. He had decided to let Remus deal with any of the current events and keep Harry up to date.

He was going to bring Harry home this summer though. No matter what Dumbledore said he was not going back to those disgusting muggles that Lily had been forced to call family.

Harry hadn't said anything about his relatives but Sirius knew the tale tall signs of a terrible home life. He would avoid questions about the Dursleys and he had seemed much too eager at the opportunity to leave them with his godfather (not that there was anything wrong about that). There was also the fact that he had been running away from home back before Harry's third year and he had looked quite furious.

Remus had informed him that War had broken out and Voldemort had returned and that Harry had been somehow involved in his resurrection. All he wanted to do was get out and make sure his pup was safe but Remus had advised him against it. Good Old Bonsie had ascended to Minister for Magic and the search for him had been called off however that didn't mean he wouldn't be killed on sight still. Hopefully he could have a trial soon and finally be let out of the house. Being stuck in this godforsaken house was almost as bad as Azkaban.

He needed to get out, he needed to be free and he needed to see his Godson.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS SSSSSSSSSSS

Ronald Weasley was tired, tired of having to put up with Harry Potter, tired of being in situations that could take his life, tired of being a sidekick and tired of being the shame of his family.

His mother had told him to become friends with Harry Potter back in first year when she saw him having trouble getting on to the platform. She had promised him Potter's fortune and Potter's fame, alas none of that was coming to fruition. His mother had been quite angry at him for breaking off their friendship at the beginning of the year and had promised to banish him from Clan Weasley if he ever did something like that again.

In 1834 House Potter and House Weasley had engaged in a marriage contract between Eliza Potter and Hamrod Weasley. However the contract was severely breached when Hamrod raped and killed Eliza and the Head of House Potter at the time declared a Blood feud with the House of Weasley which was settled before the Wizengamot. The Wizengamot ruled in House Potter's favour and the house of Weasley lost everything, their seat on the Wizengamot, their properties, 20 million galleons and their status as a Noble House. Ever since then the Clan of Weasley and their long-time ally House Prewett have been at odds with the Potters.

Molly and Arthur had seen the orphaned boy as a way to finally extract their revenge on the Potter's. They knew Albus would keep his saviour in the dark so as not to "burden" him, they decided to as well. They would get Potter into their good graces, marry him off to Ginny, have her produce his child, then kill him and manipulate the child's fortune.

Ron meanwhile had decided to take Hermione for his own Molly Weasley. He had found out the hard way that she couldn't be tied down by anyone, she had left him and after the past year he realized that Harry would lean towards Hermione.

Ron was no longer essential to the plan, Molly, Arthur and the rest of the family could shun Ron and affirm Harry on their side and force him and Ginny into a relationship. He was expandable now and could very well end up as Ronald no name soon.

He stood here in front of his Mom, Dad, the Twins and Ginny getting yelled at for his foolishness at going after Hermione and then calling her his bitch. He had enough of them now and wanted this just to end.

"Mum, Dad, we can fix this!"

"We! We are not going to fix this you Ronald are on your own, Ronald Billius Weasley you are hereby banished from the Clan Weasley."

An unearthly red glow enveloped Ron then quickly vanished and the rest of the family gaped at Arthur for his bluntness. Ginny looked at him with indifference, the Twins were staring open mouth and Molly began to ball.

"I'm sorry Ronald but we do not accept traitors in our House."

Even though he had expected it Ron started to cry and mumble things like "I'll do better" and "I can fix this" but it was futile and a disturbing sight. Ron had no surname now; he had fewer rights than the Muggleborn in the wizarding world. He was an emancipated minor and no longer had a house to call home.

After a long moment Ron rose from his chair and walked off out of his old family's quarters and out of the castle onto the grounds pondering what in Merlin was he going to do next.

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

News reached Hogwarts later that day that Azkaban prison had been burnt to the ground and that over 100 high ranking Death Eaters had escaped. A Dark Mark hung grimly over the once prison and bodies of dead aurors littered the ground.

Neville Longbottom was walking off towards the 4th year Gryffindor dormitories; The Lestrange's had been on the list of escapees. The people that had tortured his parents into insanity were walking free now.

He like many other kids in the castle had been orphaned by the last war. He had grown up in his father's shadow and was thought to be a squib until his uncle Algernon Croaker of the DOM had thrown him out of a third floor window at Longbottom Hall and he had used magic to keep himself from hitting the ground.

He didn't really have any friends at Hogwarts and had always considered himself to be an outcast. He knew that Seamus, Dean and Ron talked about him behind his back. Harry had always been much less outgoing then the other three and didn't talk much to anyone besides Ron and Hermione.

He heard a lot though as the trio weren't very subtle; He knew of the Philosophers stone incident obviously; He knew all about the Chamber of Secrets. Though they were much quieter about Sirius Black he still knew the big details. He also knew that Harry would play a big part in this new war.

He wanted to fight in this new war but knew that he would be useless. If there was one thing everyone was right about, it was his magical abilities. The only thing he seemed to be good at was Herbology, but that was not exactly an example of magical talent (He wasn't about to tell Professor Sprout that). His status as heir apparent to the Longbottom family was the only thing that kept him from leaving the magical world when he turned 17.

He had nowhere to go and nowhere to hide. The Lestrange's would undoubtedly comeback and finish the job. He would go home for the summer but wouldn't count on staying there for its entirety; his Grandmother had been talking about fleeing for Greece and waiting the war out.

He saw Hermione Granger mulling about the almost empty Gryffindor common room, she might as well be in the same situation as him. She was a Muggleborn who had next to no friends and had about as much appreciation for wizarding culture as a toad. Yet she was kind hearted and went out of her way to help others no matter how snobby she might sound. She was also really pretty, no longer was her hair the frizzy mass it once was and there was no trace of what had been buck teeth a few years ago.

"Hey Hermione."

"Oh, Hello Neville"

"How are you?"

"I'm Fine and you?"

"S'okay, what seems to be on your mind?"

"Lots of stuff"

The conversation continued in a very awkward way with each participant giving very brief answers, Hermione's talking still brightened up Neville's day for some reason. He was just about to leave after a long pause of silence when Hermione decided to speak up.

"Do you ever feel like you're the only person in the world Neville, so alone and isolated and no one to call on for help."

"Yes." He managed to blurt out.

"I feel that way every day now, Ronald wanted me to be another Molly Weasley to give birth to his quidditch team and Harry has all but abandoned me in search of the…"

Harry Potter chose that moment to storm in to the common room and up into the dormitories in a mad dash leaving two very confused Gryffindor fourth years behind. They couldn't make heads or tails of what he was feeling; he looked quite frustrated but also looked quite sad. It also obviously pained Hermione and made Neville want to rush to her side and comfort her for some strange reason again.

"What in Morgana was that?"

"I don't think I've ever seen him like that before."

"Should we go check on him?"

"I think we should give him some space for a moment and let him calm down."

"You're probably right; you were saying something about Harry before?"

"I don't think I can really answer that question honestly anymore, he's obviously been doing something that's important enough to upset him. It's just no one seems to care about me and…" She trailed off as Neville looked into her eyes.

"I care."

The world seemed to stop for a minute in time as Hermione and Neville gazed into each other's soul. She gripped his hand in leaned in for a kiss. The kiss seemed to last for hours and as they broke away gasping for air Neville Longbottom realized something, He was falling in love with Hermione Granger.

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD DDDDD

1) This chapter was really hard to write, I'm obviously not very good at writing emotional scenes and as you can see this chapter was quite emotional.

2) Dumbles will be back soon and will have to face the music, He can't hide from his mistakes forever.

3) I considered going easy on Ron and I did to a certain degree, I could have made it alot worse for him.

4) I'm hoping for the average chapter in this story to be around 5000 words

5) Happy St. Patricks day!

6) I was originally going to call this chapter Problem Solving, however I have since realized that this chapter only contains problems.


	3. Return

Chapter 3: Return

* * *

Daphne needed to get some fresh air, she couldn't believe what had just happened; Harry Potter had kissed her. They had both let their guards down and she had seen the real Harry Potter and worst of all he had seen the real her. She had felt so comfortable and safe around him for some reason. Why had she run away?

Everything was going so well until he kissed her, it wasn't like that was such a bad thing. After that long conversation she had realized something, she had a crush on Harry Potter and it seemed that he returned the feelings.

So why couldn't she just accept it?

She didn't want to fall for Harry Potter; she couldn't fall for Harry Potter. She had a status to keep up and if she wanted to survive this war she would need to push him away as much as possible no matter how much she liked him.

* * *

"Wow." Neville breathed as he and Hermione broke from their passionate kiss.

"That was amazing Neville."

"Thanks." He blushed

"..I guess we should go check on Harry now..."

"That's probably for the best." An awkward silence descended upon the room.

"Are we... you know…. In a relationship now?" Neville asked

"I think so." Hermione giggled and the two traded another kiss.

"Come on let's go see what's bothering Harry." Hermione said as she broke away from Neville.

The two stood up holding hands and walked up the stairs to the boys dormitories in silence. Hermione was naturally allowed in the boys dorms as a girl but the boys were not allowed in the girls' dorms. Apparently, girls were supposedly much more mature.

They pushed the door open and crept into the 4th year dorm and found Harry lying face down on his bed mumbling things. Neville and Hermione shared another confused glance before going to sit on either side of Harry's bed.

"Harry, what's wrong?"

"Mione... Not that I don't appreciate it or anything but I really would like to be left alone right now."

A stern expression came over Hermione's face as she heard what he said.

"You listen to me Harry James Potter; you have ignored me the last week and have been a right arse to anybody that approaches you! We are friends and friends are supposed to be there for each other! Now tell me what the bloody hell is going on with you."

Harry's face of pitiful sorrow turned into a smirk at Hermione's loud rant. Neville watched amused at the authority Hermione could hold in her voice. Hermione harrumphed and crossed her arms over her chest.

"If you must know, I screwed things up with Daphne." He said while falling back into his bed with his hands over his face then running through his hair.

"Daphne, as in Daphne Greengrass, the Ice Queen of Slytherin?"

"The one and only."

"How do you know her?"

"I met her a few weeks ago and she seemed nice, then I was walking by some empty classroom and there she was crying. I went in and started up a conversation and we both let our guard down and got to see the real sides of ourselves… And then… I kissed her."

Hermione and Neville went into shock. Harry Potter the epitome of Gryffindor was falling for the Ice Queen of Slytherin. Who could have perceived that? From what they both knew Harry Potter didn't even know anyone existed outside the dorm.

"You kissed her…"

"It only lasted for a few seconds and when it was over she bolted from the room. I'm pretty sure she returned the kiss… but I'm not sure if that was because she was emotional or for some other reason."

Neville and Hermione went into deeper shock; obviously they both liked each other.

"Mate, I think she likes you."

"No, no you don't understand. She's being forced into a marriage contract with Theodore Nott and I'm one of the only people who can void the contract."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hermione asked.

"It means if she didn't want to marry Nott she'd have to marry me. The thing is… I kind of like her." Harry said slowly.

He turned to face Hermione and Neville and finally noticed that they were holding hands and it was his turn to be shocked.

"When the fuck did this happen? Weren't you dating the weasel?" He gestured to their hands.

"A few minutes ago in the common room, you're rather slow Harry. Ronald and I broke up last week."

"What?" Harry asked shocked.

"He said and I quote "'Mione calm down, you should be excited, you're getting the honor of being my bitch. You're going to give birth to the next generation of proud Weasleys.""

Harry and Neville both looked extremely shocked; they knew Ron was a total prat but this was on a whole other level.

"I'm sorry… for what it is worth I think Ron and his family are hiding a secret agenda…much like the rest of the wizarding world" He raised his eyebrow at Neville who looked confused once more.

"Tell me Neville, does the title Marquees of Davenport ring any bells?" Harry asked Neville.

Neville's face went through a wide range of emotions, first he looked quite agitated, then sad and finally his face fell and he gazed towards the door to the room as if expecting to be told to leave. Hermione meanwhile was still utterly confused.

"Marquees of Davenport." Hermione mused, "Neville, Harry? Someone please tell me if I've missed something?"

"Harry is the last living member of the Potter Family and therefore the heir apparent. The Potter family is quite old and dates back to the time of the founders. The King of England granted them peerage back in 1256…. I just… I thought you knew about it… You never really talked to anybody besides Ron and Hermione and I thought you were too noble to care or something and that's why you dressed like a house elf. I'm so sorry…" He started to mumble things and began to cry. Hermione leapt over the bed to comfort him and Harry was starting to regret what he had said.

"Neville it is okay, you're not at fault here... People like Ron and Dumbledore are, they should know better. I just would've liked to know more about my family and not have a massive estate dumped on me all of a sudden. It's why I've been in the library the last few days Mione, I have a lot of responsibilities now and it's hard to understand, on the plus side though I won't be returning to the Dursleys." He shuddered.

"Harry they can't have been that bad I mean, they are your family." Neville said.

"You don't know anything about them! One time when I burnt the bacon my uncle forced my hands on to the burner for ten minutes! The times I got better marks than Dudley my wrists would be tied to the banister and I would get the good ole cat o nine tails." He lifted up the back of his shirt to reveal his heavily scared back

"My uncle's sister would let her dogs try and rip me apart and Dudley and his gang used to play Harry hunting with BB guns! That's only the tip of the iceberg, my body is scared for life and I will never have had a normal childhood or a childhood at all."

Hermione began to shred silent tears and pretended to look the other way, Neville stood there in total shock. He had read the books about Harry growing up in a castle and fighting off Dragons. Of course he knew those were false so he assumed that he had grown up with a random wizarding family or Dumbledore. Never had he imagined that Harry had been beaten almost to the brink of death before Hogwarts.

He now saw why Harry had clung to Ron and Hermione, his first true friends. He had been hurt so much in his lifetime and just needed a shoulder to cry on sometimes, he was so brave to face the world every day and not cower in the shadows. He needed to be loved and to love. He could now see why he and Daphne Greengrass would be such a perfect match. They both had cold and isolated exteriors but on the inside they felt like total outsiders who had seen too much pain in their short lives.

Daphne was his second cousin and as such they had grown up together. He knew the real Daphne and she was a kind hearted soul, but something traumatic must have happened when they were around 9, his grandmother had refused to meet with the Greengrass family anymore and when he had seen Daphne for the first time in 2 years at Hogwarts she had turned into a bitter and resentful person.

He had loved Daphne as a sister and wanted nothing more than for her to be happy again. He wanted Harry to be happy in his life too and he could see the two of them together helping each other to find happiness once again.

Neville had a mission now, he was going to make sure that Harry and Daphne could look past their stupidity and become a match made in heaven.

* * *

Dumbledore walked into the Great Hall for breakfast. It had been a long and tiring last couple of weeks. He had finally made some progress on the ICW front and the French, Bulgarians and Americans were all sending reserve Aurors to aid in the war. The Russian alliance was keeping many at bay and was slowing things down progress.

However he felt enough progress had been made at the ICW and that he could return back to Hogwarts. He hadn't expected the atmosphere to be so grim. Families were all over the school and the Hogwarts Express wouldn't be as full as usual when it departed in a few days' time. Maxime and the Acting Headmaster Pulchik were still present as were there students. Karkoroff had been killed mere hours after the tournament ended.

Noticeably absent from the Hall was Harry Potter however that riddle was quickly solved with the boy creeping up behind Dumbledore and motioning for him to follow. Albus became greatly concerned with this stern new Harry Potter.

Albus led him up to his grand office and quietly sat down behind his desk rubbing his temples ignoring the whizzing magical silver objects about the room, He hadn't had a decent night sleep in over two weeks.

"What seems to be the matter Harry my boy?"

"Don't 'Harry my boy' me."

"Alright, what seems to be the matter Mr. Potter?"

"Why do you keep me in the dark? Did you tell Ronald to keep me isolated and oblivious to the world around me?"

"Please be clearer Harry, I have been very busy the last few weeks and when one gets to my age the brain simply can't function as well as it used too."

"Why didn't you tell me anything about my Family?"

Oh boy here we go. The Chief Warlock's became clearly agitated and he seemed to be gasping for air.

"You must understand Harry…" Dumbledore began.

"Just get to the god damn point." Harry snapped.

"I did not want to burden you. You already carry such a big weight and I was planning on telling you at the beginning of the year but the whole tournament fiasco turned my plans upside down and I didn't want to distract you."

"Distract me from what! It's not like I received any help!"

"And for that I am truly sorry."

"Did you even think to help me?"

"Harry you must understand that I only want the best for you. I have made too many mistakes concerning you though."

"Too many, you mean like dropping me on the Dursleys' doorsteps."'

"That was my second, I thought that the Dursleys would love you like their own son. I should have taken Minerva's advice."

"She was there the night you dumped me off at their place?"

"Yes, she had been watching them all day and told me that they were the worst sort of muggles. When I saw you for the first time in the Great Hall and how malnourished you are I was quite upset and paid Petunia a visit. She readily agreed to treat you better; I thought it would end there and then. Alas, I was incorrect and I wish I could have put you somewhere else, however the blood wards were needed to keep you safe."

"You said putting me with the Vermin was your second mistake, what was your first?"

Dumbledore pondered if he should tell the boy the entire truth. The boy no doubt deserved to know the truth about the murder of his parents and about the Prophecy. The boy was still too young and did not know Occlumency; He hoped that he could fix that soon. However dodging the boys question could lead to further problems, he needed Harry's trust and for that to still exist they needed to be on equal playing fields.

"Very well I will tell you... However you must promise me that you will learn the art of Occulemency in order to protect your mind from unwanted guests, Professor Snape will provide suitable instruction…."

"No."

"No?"

"He is a bigoted bastard who holds a grudge against me because of my father; he will try and sabotage my learning. Somebody else will teach me."

"Very well, I will teach you."

"Okay, now tell me your first of many mistakes."

"About a month before your birth a prophecy was made concerning two possible children. Both at the time were living in family manors however when I told them the prophecy I thought it would be wise for them to leave their manors for another more secure hiding place; Though most have wards that rival Hogwarts, they are too widely known and accessible. An agent of Voldemort heard the prophecy and relayed it to him. Both children were of pureblood families, however one was a half-blood much like Voldemort himself, he went after that child."

Harry scrunched his face up in recognition, who else could he be referring to.

"Me."

"Yes, However Voldemort did not hear the full prophecy and that is why you lived."

"What is the prophecy?"

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies ... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not ... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives ... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies ...

Voldemort heard only the first two lines."

"So I am the only one who can defeat him." Harry asked in shock.

"Yes, I had hoped he wouldn't return until after you graduated but alas I was wrong."

"May I ask who the other child may have been?"

"Neville Longbottom."

"He would be the Boy who lived had Riddle gone after him?"

"Correct and you would be in the same position as him perhaps."

"This is a lot to take in."

"I would imagine so."

"And you didn't think to tell me this earlier, even when you had the opportunity at the end of first year."

"I didn't want to burden a mind so young, had you known I feared that you might have ended up somewhat like young Tom Riddle, isolated and bitter towards the outside world. I wanted you to have a childhood which I hadn't realized had been that bad."

"Did you even think to check up on me?"

"When you first arrived at the Dursleys I needed to have someone to watch over you for I was and still am quite busy. Arabella Figg a squib wanted the honor of watching you grow up and so I stationed her up in a house across from yours. She told me bad things were happening in the house but I had shrugged the comments off as unbelievable, another mistake."

"Ms. Figg was a squib?"

"And the ex-wife of Mr. Filch."

"Really?" Harry asked shocked.

"No, but I couldn't resist at least saying that once." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled but Harry was in no mood of jokes.

"Very funny ha ha ha."

"You need to train Harry and you will not be sent back to the Dursleys this year-"

"You do not get to decide anymore where I go; you sound like I don't have any other choice but to follow you." Harry said with a hint of malice.

"I'm sorry I was getting ahead of myself. The ancestral Potter Manor as I was saying might be suitable enough for your needs as a suggestion. It is quite big and the grounds are quite beautiful and the wards are over 1000 years old."

"Is that good?"

"Quite, wards are quite special as over time they learn to adapt by themselves. Each head of house usually adds their own wards to the schema so the wards become quite powerful. I would also suggest learning about the wards as well and putting a reset on the acceptance list, Peter Pettigrew might still be on there and…."

* * *

"Okay Daphne slow down, Harry bloody Potter, Gryffindor's Golden boy, defeater of Dragons, Boy-who lived, Triwizard champion and witch weekly's most eligible bachelor 3 years in the running kissed you?" said Tracy Davis.

Daphne was currently sitting in a corner of the calm and aristocratic Slytherin common room with her sister and her best friend. She had just finished retelling her story to the two of her confidantes who were truly gobsmacked at the revelations.

"Yes that's what I said and the worst part of it is I kissed back!" Tracy gasped and Astoria squealed.

"How?" asked Astoria.

"I let my defences down around him for some odd reason and he let his down too. Morgana… I told him about the marriage contract situation."

"You did!" The two exclaimed together.

"Yes and then we were having a good time laughing about it and then his extremely attractive green eyes stared into my soul and he kissed me and then I kissed back and ran off."

"Merlin you really did let your guard down, I don't think I've ever seen you smile since…. you know…" Daphne silenced Tracy with a harsh glare and Astoria looked away awkwardly.

"We are not speaking of that." Daphne snapped.

"Okay Daph but you need to get over it. I think it is holding you back."

"Tracy please I don't want to think of what happened and I am past it."

"Whatever you say, so what are you going to do about Potter?" Tracey asked.

"I have no idea, Harry is such an enigma." Daphne replied helplessly.

"Hold up did you just call him… Harry?"

Daphne's face flushed.

"He's not actually that bad, he's no pampered prince. In fact…. Oh my, what have I done?" Daphne's face paled at the new thought.

"What have you done?"

"Harry told me about his home life I shouldn't have dismissed it so quickly there is probably much more to it."

"What do you mean?" Astoria asked reviving from her awkwardness.

"He's treated like a house elf with his Muggle relatives…. I'm pretty sure there's a lot more than what he told me about it. I mean he said a lot of bad things but I think that what he told me was just the tip of the iceberg."

"Are you implying..."

"I think he's been abused."

"Daphne you can't make assumptions like that."

"I can tell when somebody has been through something like that, you should know that. He's had such a hard life and he felt so comfortable with me... I felt so comfortable with him... What does this mean?" Daphne said.

"It means you like him Daph." Astoria replied.

"No, I can't fall for Harry Potter, he's too dangerous, I'll be a target and if I die, who will protect you Stori?"

"Daphne you obviously like each other." Astoria said.

"No I refuse to accept that I'm falling for Harry Potter." Daphne said adamantly.

"Whatever you say." Said Tracey distantly, for her mind was elsewhere. She had decided that Daphne needed a man, a man to help her get over her past and to help her find happiness. A man who would melt the Ice Queen's cold exterior and one who would be a good friend to her. Theodore Nott could not be any of those things; it seemed that Harry Potter would suffice.

She knew next to nothing about the boy besides the common stereotypes, but from the way Daphne talked about him she knew that they were the perfect match. It's not like Daphne could do worse, Potter was quite the Adonis in her opinion. The last year he had really started to develop into a more attractive and muscular guy.

But she would need help getting the two of them together; obviously they were too blind to see it. She didn't know anybody close enough to Harry though that would support her cause, the Weasel would scream bloody murder about Slytherins at the slightest mention of them.

Her mind was set though she needed to at least try to have Daphne in a happy relationship. She would not be at ease until she was successful. Wasn't Longbottom her cousin? Perhaps he could help her he was probably close to Harry being in the same year and house.

She was going to find Longbottom and get the ball rolling.

* * *

Amelia Bones finished shaking hands with the new Bulgarian minister and bade him goodbye before turning back to her desk and slouching in her chair. She let out the breath she had been holding for the last hour and calmed down.

It had been a rough week, the Diplomats and the Wizengamot weren't making anything easy and after the terms she and Potter had left on she doubted that she would get his support. She regretted having snapped at the boy, how could he know of what she had been through and what the comment had meant to her?

She had investigated into Black's file and had found nothing, no trace of a trial only a creepy mugshot. She assumed that it had been swept under the rugs so as not to ruin the mood of the victory celebrations. The arrest warrant had been signed by Bagnold herself so the corruption had come from the top it seemed. Her predecessor of the headship of the DMLE Barty Crouch had also aided in the cover up as well.

Amelia had smirked inwardly after realizing the event that had caused Bagnold's landslide second election in 1984. If Sirius Black was given a trial and proven to be innocent like Harry claimed then her reputation would be soiled. She held 5 seats on the Wizengamot and an alliance that was followed her every move. She tended to be a silent coalition as she didn't often show up to meetings having her proxy attend the majority. However as a Wartime Politician she would most likely be rushing back to the country from whatever conference she was attending to put in her two cents.

Bagnold was among the youngest elected to the position of minister at the age of 35. For five years in fact she had been head auror before the war started and the Head of the DMLE was killed and she ascended into that position. Minister Gobstopper had resigned due to his inability to lead a government during wartime and Bagnold had risen to the occasion and proved her to be quite the Minister.

She was praised for her action in finishing the war. However her popularity took a sudden dive when Crouch's son was exposed as a Death Eater. Crouch had been swiftly transferred and Amelia had risen to the head of the DMLE. Bagnold had become desperate for popularity and was insistent that she had been the main reason why the Death Eaters were all locked up. It wasn't enough to save her career though so she decided that she needed a new wave to ride on and so began the Wizarding Wireless Network. Before the WWN wizards had primarily gotten their new from the Daily Prophet and heard most music and other entertainment over the International Wizarding Radio Channel. She created the strictly United Kingdom Channel with their stations and soaps. Her popularity soared and she created a series of trade deals with foreign nations and Bagnold had quickly risen to international status.

However she was not as great a peacetime Minister as she was a wartime one and decided to leave the game while she was on top. However her unprecedented departure left a confused Ministry behind with no obvious candidate. Amelia had no interest in the Position and her undersecretary was quite old and had decided to retire as well. So Cornelius Fudge of the Department of Internal Affairs threw his hat in the ring and was basically unopposed and sailed into Office. Bagnold was appointed Ambassador and was often out of the country now leaving Fudge without opposition.

At one point in her life Amelia had looked up to Millicent Bagnold but after these documents she knew why she had been sorted into Ravenclaw more than ever. She had arranged for Bagnold to meet her in a few minutes now. She was going to get answers and was going to secure another 40 votes on the Wizengamot to her block.

"Minister Bones, Minister Bagnold is here to see you." Her Secretary Laura called.

The Ministers regained their titles even after they left office much like the muggle governments and as such Millicent Bagnold to be referred to as Ambassador for the Magical lands of Britain, Former Minister for Magic Millicent Bagnold.

"Ah, Amelia a pleasure to see you as always." Bagnold said as she strode triumphantly into her old office. The years had been kind to her, she looked quite relaxed and her olive skin was still as bright as ever, her light blonde hair rolled past her shoulders and there was a complete absence of wrinkles.

"Millicent a pleasure to see you as well." Amelia replied.

"I was wondering when I would see you in here, I thought you would have replaced me but sadly you let that Oaf Fudge tarnish my work."

"I'm going to get to the point Millicent. You were a fairly competent Minister who did great things for the country, I respect you. However I have come across a series of documents that you directly signed in your position of Minister. You ordered the then head of the DMLE Bartimus Crouch Sr. to send Sirius Black to jail, without a trial."

Amelia smirked as she told Bagnold the facts. However Bagnold's own smirk never faltered. It was a standard Politician smirk which Amelia was all too familiar with.

"It doesn't matter Amelia, he is guilty. Why waste the time on a trial? Especially during such a busy time."

"That is irrelevant, the law states 'Innocent until proven Guilty'. You imprisoned an innocent man for 12 years and that is illegal. Should I call for a trial your corruption shall come to light and your incredible popularity shall plummet."

"My dear Amelia, if it weren't for me you wouldn't be here. You do not want me as an enemy, many leaders think that the Wizengamot is 'Black and White', there are the three coalitions and that's it. You are all wrong; the silent coalitions that no one talks about are the strongest. I singlehandedly have secured 90 votes to my coalition, many present a face for the public that is far different than their actual opinion. Though the Death Eater Block holds a decent amount many of them are not completely loyal to the Dark Lord and as a woman of my status I hold much sway to all three major sides. This war will expose those for who they really are and the three blocks will soon descend into many different coalitions much like the last war and you may find yourself facing a variety of roadblocks."

"Empty threats, you cannot carry out."

"You doubt my power? Do you want to face my wrath?"

"No matter what, Black will be getting a trial and you will be in the middle of a huge controversy."

"Try me."

"I am offering you a chance, Should you support me there is an undersecretary position open and-"

"Undersecretary!"

"I can create any evidence against you! I will crush you like a bug Bagnold! If you support me in the Wizengamot certain things could be overlooked."

"How dare you blackmail me?"

"We need to stand as a united front in the face of darkness, the only way to do so is too support each other."

"You are making a powerful enemy here Amelia."

"We need to stand together!" Amelia said.

"Blackmailing me is not the way to do this, think about what you are doing Amelia before you do something you regret."

And with that Millicent Bagnold left her office and back out into the world. Amelia recognized that the meeting could've gone better. She hadn't expected such a harsh reaction. She was making too many enemies in the few short weeks as Minister.

Amelia would not be remembered as the Minister who led the Ministry into the hands of Voldemort. She needed to make amends with some powerful people and soon.

* * *

Millicent Bagnold stalked down out of the building quickly much to the stares following her everywhere and the clicking and flashing of the camera's. She was used to the paparazzi by now and was quite sure her visit would be front page news tomorrow.

However she wasn't concerned with that now she was on a mission. She needed to get supporters and fast. She was opposed to everything Voldemort stood for but wasn't afraid to play dirty. Unlike Dumbledore and Bones, she could step over anyone she wanted to meet her goals and didn't care much for the law.

She needed a big name supporter to get her back into the sacred office of Minister and that person was the boy-who-lived Harry Potter. She was going to gain the boy's trust before Amelia could. She knew that Amelia would've gone to Harry for support first as well and was most likely rebuffed. This meant that Potter was in a great position to be manipulated.

She exited the Ministry and apparated to the front gates of Hogwarts before confidently walking up to the castle with her head held high as always.

She was unsurprisingly intercepted by a small welcoming party of Dumbledore and McGonagall both shocked by her appearance.

She had pretty much disappeared after she left office 5 years ago; she had been busied all over the world and was presumably gone forever. She had never been on the best terms with Dumbledore due to his second chances thing and his goody two shoes behaviour. In fact he was quite opposed to her being in any position of power.

"Minister Bagnold what a pleasant surprise."

"Yes Indeed Headmaster, why do you look so shocked?"

"I never imagined that I would see you walk these halls again."

"Well Albus, as nice as it has been catching up I have a schedule to keep so I would very much like to the Potter heir." She said with a smile as Dumbledore's face twisted into Horror.

"I'm afraid that Mr. Potter is currently indisposed."

"No one is indisposed for a woman of my status Headmaster, not even the Boy who lived."

She set a brisk pace past the two gobsmacked professors, too stunned to even move trying to process what the hell had just happened. She went into the castle with her wand pointing the direction of Harry Potter. He was in the library with two other students whom she assumed to be his closest friends. Though the library was always silence it seemed like in the busy library noise had ceased to exist as she walked in. The boy who he was with was quite frightened by her and the girl seemed indifferent, most likely a Muggleborn.

"Mr. Potter a pleasure to meet you, I am Millicent Bagnold former minister for magic." She shook his hands.

"Pleasure." He nodded.

He knew she was going to milk his popularity for something as all politicians had been doing, First Fudge, then Bones and now Bagnold. However somebody needed to be a leader and it may have been clear earlier that Madam Bones may be emotionally compromised.

"I understand that you're not one for politics and to tell you the truth never was I. I was minister for 11 years before resigning 6 years ago; I found the job dreadfully boring during peacetime. But of course you know all about that."

Harry nodded slowly; he had never heard of Minister Bagnold, he just wanted the conversation to end.

"What exactly do you want Madam Bagnold."

"Well you see I was elected minister towards the end of the first year and quickly changed the tide. Madam Bones no matter how qualified has little experience with politics or a government in a state of war."

"Your point being..." Harry pressed.

"With your support I could once again be minister and help finish the war quickly like last time."

"What makes you so different than Bones besides experience?"

"She is a stickler for the law, during war laws need to be broken and she is too afraid to cross the so called line. Sometimes the law needs to be disregarded to deal with the greater evil."

"If you were Minister during the first war wouldn't that make you the reason Sirius Black never got a trial?"

"It was a tough and busy time and he probably should have gotten a trial, however I didn't want to call the Wizengamot back into session while they were celebrating. Regardless of if he was guilty or innocent the final product would have been the same, an angry bitter Wizengamot with a huge amount of evidence would have voted him a swift guilty, and if it clears your conscience I can order a trial once I am Minister."

"I would like that, I am making no promises Madam Bagnold, Minister Bones seems to be doing a good job and if she should prove to be unsuccessful then I may contact you for an ally."

"Thank you very much for your time Mr. Potter, I hope to see you soon."

With that Millicent Bagnold left the library with a skip in her step; her plan was in motion and by the end of the summer she would undoubtedly be the Minister for Magic once again and save the wizarding world and go down in history as the greatest witch who ever lived.

* * *

A/N

1. Sorry for the long wait, I was catching up on my reading and I also found this chapter quite hard to write.

2. I'm wondering what my readers think of Millicent Bagnold, I've never seen anything like it before in a fanfic and am quite excited to see how it turns out. I myself am quite confused as too who will win out in the end between the two, I will post a poll on my site for who will win out in the end. At this point it's just going to be a long game of leap frog between the two powerhouse politicians.

3. I would like to thank the wonderful Anka7995 for being my Beta and fixing up my multiple spelling errors.

4. I'm very happy that 115 people have followed this story so far. However I would very much like to hear more from my readers, so please review!


	4. Through the Rain

_When you get caught in the rain, __with nowhere to run_

_When you're distraught and in pain, without anyone _

_When you keep crying out to be saved_

_ But nobody comes and you feel so far away _

_That you just can't find your way home _

_You can get there alone _

_It's okay, what you say is _

_I can make it through the rain_

_ I can stand up once again on my own_

_ And I know that I'm strong enough to mend_

_And every time I feel afraid I hold tighter to my faith_

_And I live one more day and I make it through the rain _

_Through the Rain-Mariah Carey _

* * *

Tracy Davis was galloping down a fourth floor corridor trying to reach the library before it closed in half an hour; she was researching for her potions assignment over the summer and really didn't want to have to do it during the time she was supposed to be tanning on a beach in Cyprus. She was too busy running that she almost didn't notice herself bumping Neville Longbottom to the ground.

"Sorry Longbottom."

"S'okay, Davis." Neville said as he continued on his way.

A thought that had been plaguing her for days now crept into her head as Neville was leaving; this could be her opportunity to set things in motion for Daphne and Harry. So she called after him.

"Wait Longbottom we need to talk." Tracey said suddenly.

"About?" Neville replied stopping in mid-step.

"Your cousin." Tracey said.

"Which one?" Neville said, who actually did have a pretty good idea about who she was speaking about but wanted to see where this was going.

"Daphne."

"About what?"

"Harry Potter." She elaborated.

"I see, I should have assumed." Neville said, trying to hide a smile at her single word replies.

"What do you mean?" Tracey asked her brow furrowing.

"Because I had the same idea." Neville smirked.

"So will you help me set them up?" Tracey asked surprised.

"Of course I'd be willing to help; I don't know where to begin though." Neville admitted slowly.

"You let me handle that, just be ready to act soon." Tracey replied a plan already cooking in her head.

_**Scene Break**_

Hogwarts was bustling with activity on the 31st of June; the students who were going home were leaving that day after breakfast and many were in a panic wondering whether or not they would ever return to the ancient castle.

Harry Potter and Hermione Granger walked into the Great Hall for breakfast and took seats across from Neville near the end of the Gryffindor table. All three were in a sombre mood, all of them were going home, and Harry was going to the Dursleys' until he could find a more permanent residence. He and Dumbledore had mutually agreed that he needed time to think and be alone, so he was going to the Dursleys' for both, protection and closure. He was going to be given free reign though and as the underage magic ban had been lifted he had the upper hand.

The trio had also discussed at length Bagnold's offer. She had been known to rule with an iron fist and would smite those who oppose her. She didn't cut corners with anything and always got the job done no matter what and was quite effective in some of her more questionable methods; Whether or not that was a good thing remained to be seen.

However Bones seemed to be doing quite well and it had been advertised that Sirius Black had gotten a trial date for the fourth of August; just after he was able to take up his seat.

The Prophecy concerned him to no end; he had to be the one who finished Voldemort! He was a god damn fourth year who was below average in just about everything besides defence. He had slacked off way too much and thanked the heavens that he was no longer being held back by Ron. He would have to train over the summer, long and hard. Duelling and strategy would be on the top of the list and Dumbledore had told him that he could arrange for quite a few lessons that schools didn't teach.

Daphne Greengrass also seemed to keep re-entering his thoughts. He had come to realize that he liked her, a lot. The only problem was she avoided him like a plague and even if he got close to her he wouldn't know what to say.

He felt like just breaking down and isolating himself from the world for the rest of his life; he had so many problems with no solution in sight.

_**Meanwhile...**_

Daphne finished putting her clothes in her trunk and slammed the lid shut. Tears rolled down her cheek wondering why fate had been so cruel to her. She was going home to enter the service of the Dark Lord and marry Theodore Nott and had blown any chance to get out of the contract.

She had avoided Harry Potter at all costs, too afraid to show her face to the one that she had shown her vulnerability too. She had never realized how much of a likeable person he was and how much she actually liked him as well; He had been a really good kisser and thoughts about him caressing her body had begun to start... In a different world perhaps… No, it was best not to dwell on such thoughts.

Her parents were taking the Mark and would be forever branded as Voldemort's cattles. She would become a Death Eater whore and host high society gossip parties with the Bulstrode's and Malfoy's and her sister would be passed around like Money.

She collapsed on her bed; her life was a mess and her dreams were burning. There was no escape from her almost certain fate.

She glanced to her bedside table in the room she shared with Tracy (Each dorm held room for two or three students.). Her knife sat there still as ever, a reminder of her past. All it took was a simple slice, much simpler than taking a killing curse.

She grasped the knife in her right hand holding it to the magical light illuminating the room while she examined it with her smooth fingers, it would be so easy to just stop and rest.

But she couldn't.

People would normally say she had so much to live for, but that wasn't the case. She had to live for another reason, she needed to protect her sister; it wasn't too late for her. Daphne would agree to take Astoria's place with Draco and during the time the marriage contracts were being reworked Astoria and Tracy would flee the country never to be seen again. One needed the betrothed's blood to enact the contract and while Daphne was distracting her father and mother, Astoria would destroy the vial containing her blood and run.

It would work seamlessly.

No, she wouldn't just end her life and let it be controlled by others, that would be quitting and Daphne Greengrass didn't quit.

She put the knife back in its sheath and packed it safely in her chest. She could make it through the rain and live the life she was meant too.

-O-O-

Hermione walked down the path to the Hogwarts express side by side with Neville and Harry; their luggage in the pockets being able to use their magic outside of school. Sorrow was etched over their faces at the realization that they were leaving Hogwarts and might be walking to their deaths.

As before the walk was quite silent and the number of people even going to board the famous train was the smallest it had been in decades.

Tears began to roll down her cheeks thinking about what had happened just a few short moments ago.

_*Flashback*_

"_Ms. Granger, I need to speak to you."_

"_Yes Professor McGonagall?"_

"_Preferably alone."_

"_Okay."_

_She followed her teacher into a chamber off of the entry hall and looked up to McGonagall._

"_Your Parents were involved in an accident at their place of work… There were no survivors. I'm so sorry."_

_*End of Flashback*_

Sobs racked through her body still at the new facts. Her parents were dead, she had nowhere to go, nowhere to turn, thankfully Neville had offered to take Hermione in, and he felt that it was dangerous for her to be alone.

Before she had her future all mapped out, she would pass Hogwarts with flying colours, then head off to university and get a variety of degrees before heading back to the Magical World and starting a revolution. Those were just naïve dreams now, never to be accomplished.

Her parents were dead, she was a Muggleborn in a Pureblood run world and a full scale war was going on. All she could do was Hope.

But who was she kidding, there was no hope for her, it was all gone; gone with her dreams.

**~oOo~**

Daphne trudged along the thin corridor of the Hogwarts Express trailing Tracy and Astoria. The train was in motion and though 50% of the compartments were empty, Tracy said that they were going to meet some friends to cheer Daphne up.

Like that was ever going to happen.

They continued walking for at least 5 more minutes before Tracy pulled open a compartment near the back of the train.

"Tracy, why are we..." She saw the cabins inhabitants and turned to Tracy.

"Tracy…"

It was too late however and she was pulled by the arm inside and plopped down on the bench opposite, Neville Longbottom, Hermione Granger and Harry Potter.

She recognized her best friend and her cousin trading knowing expressions.

"Oh hell no, Tracy please."

"Yeah Neville what the hell is going on here?" asked Harry.

"Thank you for coming Tracy."

"It was my pleasure Longbottom."

"This was all planned?" Daphne asked.

"Who knew about this?" Harry asked, both at the same time.

Hermione sheepishly raised her hand and Daphne swerved her head around to gaze at a confident Astoria raising her own.

"What the Hell guys?" Daphne stormed out of the compartment and after a few seconds Harry followed.

"Well that could've gone better." Tracy said.

**~oOo~**

Harry turned into another empty compartment and sat down. How could his friends have done something like that to him? They knew perfectly well that he liked Daphne Greengrass and knew the reasons why they couldn't be together. It was just rubbing salt into the wound.

She seemed just as mad as he was, perhaps for the same reasons; but that wasn't any of his business. There was no way they were getting together no matter how much either their friends played matchmakers.

But he couldn't go on like this, thinking about Daphne. He needed to see if his feelings would be returned or at least get closure from her on the subject.

His mind made up he walked out of the compartment and scoured the train for Daphne. He found her on the floor of another empty compartment five minutes later. He slid open the door and sat down opposite her.

She glanced at him and they didn't look at each other for a while. She looked beautiful as the tears rolled down her cheeks and the sun glinted off her pale skin.

"You know we have to stop meeting like this." She started wiping the tears off her cheeks

"I know." He said softly.

"I really like you, you know, I'm sorry for running off before, it's not your fault." She said not looking at him.

"It's okay, I'm sorry for kissing you." Harry said, not knowing what should have been said.

"Don't be, it was a great kiss." Daphne smiled through her tears, remembering the kiss all those days before.

"It was my first." Harry said happy that she was smiling.

"Really?" Daphne asked.

"Yeah..." Harry said his cheeks turning red.

"Look, I know we haven't really had a normal conversation before, but you seem like one of the nicest girls in the school and our friends seem convinced that we are perfect match, maybe we could at least try." Harry said slowly.

Daphne burst out into another round of tears, Harry did the only thing that seemed sensible and then held her in his arm. Daphne wriggled into Harry's warm embrace.

"My whole world is gone Harry, my parents are Death Eaters, you may be able to weasel me out of that contract but who's going to save Astoria and Tracy will be killed for not joining the Dark Lord."

"Take it one step at a time Daphne, we'll get your sister out of the contract and Tracy will be just fine. I'll protect you guys." Harry said.

"How?" Daphne asked in his chest.

"Call it my saving people thing." Harry smiled and Daphne punched him on his arm.

They sat there for another hour at least in each other's arms; gazing at the rapidly changing landscape in silence just feeling the presence of each other.

"Harry?" Daphne asked softly.

"Yeah?" Harry replied.

"Thank you."

"Anytime."

"You know this might actually work, much more of an improvement over Nott." Daphne said, still in his chest.

"That's nice." Harry said smirking.

"You know that if we do this we'll be engaged." Daphne told him.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it, my priority is to help you first and if that means getting engaged to a pretty girl like you, than I'm alright with that. Besides I think I can see myself with you 20 years from now."

"Me too." She said softly

"Maybe we should get back to the others they might start to worry, we've been gone for over an hour."

"Good idea, what better way to announce our engagement?" He said with a smirk.

~oOo~

Amelia pounded her fists on her desk in fury; Millicent Bagnold was making her life miserable. Every roadblock had something to do with her. None of the bills on her agenda were being passed and Bagnold having taken her seat was leading a huge opposition. Just yesterday the former minister had said to the Daily Prophet that she was interested in the job again and though she respected Amelia, she thought that Amelia was a Military leader and didn't represent a minister for the people; more of a minister of the soldiers discarding lives like crazy, not considering the lasting effects.

Slowly the world would turn against her and she would find herself without a job.

She needed to find something that would boost her popularity, a scapegoat.

She hated to have to resort to such methods, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

Who would be the scapegoat though? Bagnold was far too powerful and she needed the Potter boy. The former minister was of no use and Dumbledore was almost untouchable. Or was he?

Dumbledore was getting on in his age and she could gain a good deal of staunch blood purist supporters for taking his old ass down. No, Dumbledore still held enough support at an international level to be of help.

But what about Sirius Black, She could say that new evidence had surfaced and that Sirius was responsible for the Dark Lords return and once he was brought in for questioning would be thrown through the veil, But by doing that she would be pushing Potter right into Bagnold's hands.

However Potter was the subject of much controversy of late with his involvement in the Dark Lords return. There was no real evidence of what had happened on that night that shook the world; many thought Potter was more directly involved than he led on.

It would lose her the votes she had been holding out for from Harry but it would gain her tons of public approval.

But what it came down too in the end was an inner battle of ethics, Black was likely not guilty and she would not be giving him a fair trial. But it was also necessary to end the war.

Black could save her career much like the war had saved Bagnold's. But was it worth destroying an innocent man to reach her goals, would she be able to sleep at night knowing that she was throwing away somebody's life like trash?

~ooOoo~

Ron sat in a dark alcove off of the Astronomy Tower at Hogwarts. Ever since he had been kicked out of the family had become miserable. His remaining friends had left him at the news of his exile from the clan of Weasley.

This was all Granger's fault, had she just accepted her fate he could still be on good terms with Potter and of use to his family. His former family wouldn't even give a second look at him; to them he was just another child of their bunch, expendable. No matter what he did he would always be a pawn in their eyes.

He had no skills in real life; he was just coasting by from Hermione's extreme help. He was in no place to ask for a scholarship and at this rate he would no longer be able to afford to pay the tuition at Hogwarts and would most likely be dropping out. He had no place to go.

He was thankful that Hogwarts was open for the summer and was offering safe haven (that was free) to all people. If that wasn't the case he would be living on the night bus making a meager wager being a barman in a small magical town somewhere on the west coast.

He had a few galleons stashed away for the summer and that was all, not even enough to open a small account at Gringotts.

His life as he knew it was at an end, and there was nothing left for him to live for.

He stretched his legs and hopped out of the alcove he was perched in and decided to walk over to the edge of the tower for a nice view of the grounds.

It was one of the nice things about being at Hogwarts. Owls circled the lake every now and then and the grounds bathed in sunlight.

It was the perfect last sight for Ronald Billius.

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Harry and Daphne slid open the door to the compartment together. The stunned expressions on the inhabitants were quite clear and before anyone could comment Harry held his hand up to silence them.

"Before you hound us with questions, we would like to say that we have reached a mutual agreement."

"Agreement on what exactly?" Questioned Tracy

"Betrothal contracts."

"You mean…"

"Yes we are going to be engaged as it presents mutual benefits for the both of us."

"Salazar…. I call being the Maid of Honor!" Tracey said happily.

"No fair Tracy, as I am still stuck as part of Malfoy's harem then I get to be the Maid of Honor!" Astoria said.

"Whoa, slow down, this doesn't mean we are getting married, all it means is that we have voided the contract to Nott and are engaged. We will take our dear sweet time getting ready for the wedding; which is to be done by the age of 20."

"Fine." Tracy and Astoria humphed in unison.

"So how did this happen?" Neville asked.

"That is for us to know and you too wonder about, let's just say that we found mutual ground as to start at business relationship on."

"So what are you going to tell your parents?" Inquired Hermione

"I will present Lord Harry James Potter-Davenport to my father and will inform him that Lord Davenport is interested in and the contract will thus be changed to include him as the suitor all he has to do is sign a paper, As the Noble House of Potter is the last subsidiary of the most Ancient and Noble House of Davenport Harry is therefore of a Higher standing than Theodore Nott and my Father will be forced to comply."

"So you're really going through with this?"

"Yeah."

"Good for you mate!"

Harry's cheeks flushed a deep red at Neville's comment and Daphne gave him a comforting smile.

"So, you two were gone almost two hours, what by chance were you doing?" Asked a suspicious Astoria.

The next two hours of the train ride went smoothly talking about what they were all planning on doing in the future, Daphne and Harry agreed to go on a series of dates to strengthen their relationship over the summer.

The last half hour had the girls gossiping with Daphne about their summer plans and Neville began primping himself for his Grandmother leaving Harry alone to his thoughts.

He pondered what he had gotten himself into after kissing Daphne. He was saving her from a fate worse than death, but why had he felt so compelled to. He really did like her but they hardly knew anything about each other and had spent a whole total of a few hours together since they met three weeks ago. They had shared some of their deepest fears together and had felt so open with each other, maybe it was fate?

He had been so certain of his life a few weeks ago; he would be friends with Ronald and Hermione and live a good life, face a few more hardships and settle down in a nice quiet life making a living as an amazing auror that would step out of the shadow of the boy who lived.

But now everything had changed, the Ministry seemed so corrupt and Ronald was no longer his friend. Huge responsibilities had been dropped in his laps suddenly and he was currently engaged to a girl he didn't even know existed until a few weeks ago.

Was he making the right decision in getting engaged to a woman he knew almost nothing about, a woman who happened to be in their most vulnerable state and wanted nothing but to get away from Death Eaters and their ilk, was she truly interested in him or did she just see him as an escape route that she would just step over and then disappear forever.

These thoughts clouded his mind as the Hogwarts Express pulled into Kings Cross Station. Leagues of aurors surrounded the stations and panicked parents bum rushed the train immediately to grab their kids and get out.

The six students, five Fourth years and a second year rose from their seats and departed their compartment and into the station. Waiting for what would come next.

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

"Can't you just shut up for once you old Hag!"

Sirius shouted at his dead mother. He was becoming sick and tired of being restricted to roam the dark hallways of Grimmauld Place all day, at least as Padfoot he had been able to roam open fields and have fresh air fill his lungs.

He had made so many mistakes in his short life, namely concerning James's son, Lily's boy.

He had chosen Pettigrew over Harry and had paid the price, 12 years in Azkaban. His weakness had been taken over by blind hatred and a lust for vengeance that he had discarded Harry and left him to be raised with the Lily's god-awful relatives that had probably destroyed Harry's childhood innocence.

His 12 years in Azkaban were deserved for what he had done. Harry deserved much better and If Harry chose to walk out on him and use him for political leverage he would be fine with it.

He thought about killing himself, it would make everything so much easier, no more grief, and no more pain. It should have been him that died that Halloween night so long ago.

But Death was too good for him, he would be escaping his punishment and he needed to face it and accept his fate. He needed to be there for Harry all the time and make up for lost time. Every second he didn't see his pup his heart faltered for fear that he had been rejected, or worse; had been killed.

Sirius had failed in his duty to be a godfather to James and Lily's boy, he had made an oath to protect and love and give Harry a home should his parents be unable when he had been born and he had failed.

Never again would he fail though, he would protect his godson with everything he had, even if it meant sacrificing his own life in the process.

He picked up a scrap of paper nearby and a worn quill and began to write, it was time to make some amends.

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Dumbledore rubbed his temples once again, why did life have to be so hard? Between Bagnold, the ICW and Voldemort his life was becoming a living hell.

He had just returned from an ICW meeting, they were still debating as to whether they should put an end to Voldemort's reign of terror. He had said that Voldemort had broken their charter multiple times, even breaking the ISS. However many argued that the Dark Lord was still just an internal affair of Britain and had so far not been proven as a threat to the rest of the world. Basically the ICW was saying that as long as Voldemort confined his business to Magical Britain then they wouldn't interfere.

However many people had begun to argue against their core methodology, namely the governments of France and Bulgaria. The rest of the council who might've sided with them was afraid of what would become of the Magical World after.

The last time the ICW had interfered had been during the Dark Days of Grindlewald and that war had cost 10% of the wizarding population of Magical Europe and had even spread into the muggle world with Adolf Hitler.

Both Worlds still felt the after effects, however the Wizarding World had never had a baby boom like the muggles and therefore their population didn't thrive as it had before, over 100 families of nobility were killed resulting in a surge of Muggleborns. The ICW expected a fallout like the Grindlewald war if they stepped in. If they didn't perhaps Voldemort would not cause as much damage.

Things were not looking good for England at the time being, the Minister was even considering ripping up the unification treaty of 1001 A.D connecting the Magical Sates of Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England under one government under the monarch of the British Empire. Her reasoning was that if she separated the countries then the war would become an international war and would require ICW assistance.

Unlike the muggle world no revolts or revolutions had happened between the countries of the isles after and the Empire of Magical Britannia became a subsidiary of the British Empire. However unlike the muggles the magical government regained control over its colonies. Thus the reasons for Indians like the Patil's and Chinese like the Li family for coming to Hogwarts, supposedly the best magical school in the world.

The Magical political map was very different than the Muggle one as colonies were rarely given independence. Only when they became too big to be controlled by a sovereign government were they given independence; prime examples being the United States and Canada. That made the ICW was much smaller than the United Nations of the Muggle World, only existing of 83 member states.

As Supreme Mugwump he was the one that kept the whole 83 member assembly in order, it could be a very tiring job sometimes. One held the position until he/she resigned, died, or was forced to step down in a vote of no confidence, which might be coming soon for him.

Russia was after him telling the assembly that due to the ongoing civil war in Britain he was biased and was susceptible to a conflict of interest and should be voted out of the assembly. They needed a two thirds majority to do so and currently they had nowhere near two thirds backing them.

But the threat was still there and that brought him back to the beginning of his train of thought, Bagnold and her nuisances.

He had been forced to work with her as she was the British Representative for the assembly still. She had been criticizing him for working to blatantly and wanted him to be less obvious in his attempts to rally support. Bagnold told him to let her do the work or else he should resign.

She was an enigma to him twenty years later. He had been sure that after she resigned as Minister that she would just watch the ICW from her chair and relax on a beach with her millions of galleons for the rest of her life. However since Voldemort had returned it seemed that she was taking a more active stance in the government.

From what he could tell she was after the Minister's job once more and was going to get it, whether that worried him or not was the thing concerned him.

He did not doubt that she would take Voldemort down swiftly and in a blaze of glory once again and that she wouldn't accept bribes from death eaters like Fudge and Crouch had. Millicent had been furious at Crouch for handing out pardons during the first war and was one of the reasons he had been transferred.

What did concern him was her motive. She was no doubt effective and self-sufficient but why did she need to come back and go after Voldemort again? She had been set for life and lived the next 100 years of her life on a private island without a care.

Most of the time she didn't do things for the good of her heart but instead for personal gain and making the world a better place so that she would be remembered for the rest of her life and have a legacy that lasted until the demise of civilization until the end.

But she already had that; she was already hailed as one of the best minister's since the creation of the ministry. Numerous best-selling biography's had been written already and her popularity rivaled his own, even though she had tried very hard to stay out of the

So what was her motive then?

She had a meeting with Harry Potter when she had first resurfaced. It had undoubtedly been about politics and using his titles and power to get her in, Harry had most likely told her he would think about it.

He knew that Harry was going to be manipulated by the powerhouse politicians in the Wizengamot for the next few years and he truly felt bad for the poor boy, but he would not interfere. He might guide him sometimes, but otherwise Harry would do things by himself.

Part of growing up and stepping into his responsibilities was thinking for him and relying on his own intellect rather than Ms. Granger. He would have to find his own place in the world and see shed the manipulations himself.

Harry really did have a hard time ahead of him.

* * *

1. The song at the beginning is a beautiful one named Through the Rain by Mariah Carey off of her album Charmbracelet circa 2002. It was released during some of her dark days where she had been labeled a crazy bitch and her father had just died, on top of that it was released in the wake of Glitter. It really is an inspiring piece of music and definitely in my top 5 Mariah songs. I had considered putting a few other songs as the title, such as Umbrella by Rihanna and Shine on you Crazy Diamond by Pink Floyd, but Through the Rain won out in the end

2. Concerning the Order of the Phoenix; yes Albus will be putting it back together but currently the situation he is in is forcing him to feel his 150 years.

3. Sirius Black; He can mail anybody he wants since he controls the wards, he just agrees with Remus for the reasons why the wards should be active.

4. I did put up a Bagnold vs. Bones poll on my profile and am hoping that my loyal readers will vote in it to give me an idea of the direction I should take with them.

5. This Chapter was more of an interlude than anything else, a lot of filler. Next Chapter we will see some more action and it might be a bit longer.

6. Concerning the Haphne relationship, I tried my best not to make it seem rushed and hope I was at least to a degree successful.

7. I would like to say my condolences for the Right Honorable Margaret Thatcher who died last week, I see J.K Rowling writing Bagnold very much alike Thatcher, as their are numerous similarities between the two, such as their term length and the wars they faced, I myself have used Thatcher as a basis on which to start my Bagnold character.

8.. _FrostShadow:_

_I'm sorry, but Voldemort, who hasn't had a body for 13 years, and has only had contact with 2 Deatheaters is suddenly able to raise a fighting force that is capable of taking out the Royal Family, the Prime Minister, and most of the senior Ministry in under 5 hours? Considering that he fought for years and never managed to conquer Britain before, and his previous forces aren't exactly combat ready or anywhere near the size they were before his fall. This just doesn't make any sense at all. Also, Voldemort, the person who hates muggles, tackles Harry and is basically brawling on the ground with him? Plus while doing this he's able to casually fight off Dumbledore with magic? I know this is fanfiction, but these things have to be somewhat believable. Otherwise why even have a story. Voldemort at this rate can just _

Remember those 2 Death Eaters could have been in contact with others and Voldemort does have one advantage; the element of surprise, the Royal Family and Prime Minister are all muggles and unprepared and defenseless, the ministry wasn't prepared either and Fudge had severely crippled it. I think my story is highly plausible, remember how long it took to destroy the Twin Towers? and with only a handful of people was that successful.

9. As always I hope you enjoyed this chapter and as always, please REVIEW; I really want to hear what you have to say and any questions or input you might have.

10. A big thank you to my Beta Anka7995 who has once again edited and revised my story.


	5. The Rothlilith's (Meetings)

The Rothliliths (Meetings)

Warning: the Characters presented in this story are in no way affiliated with real people, this story is pure fiction.

_**~ooOOoo~**_

"Order! Order in the Courtroom!" Cried out Albus Dumbledore in his position as Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot

"Chief Warlock, all I am trying to say is that Minister Bones is floundering in her position and should be removed, perhaps demoted to the headship of the DMLE once more?" Lord Malfoy demanded.

"War takes time to finish Lord Malfoy; it seems that you can't comprehend such a thing." Bones said calmly.

"How dare you!" Malfoy spat.

"Minister Bones, Lord Malfoy! I will have order! Lord Malfoy that is the third unsuccessful bid for a vote of no-confidence in one day, please restrain yourselves."

The Courtroom was incredibly tense; it was a mandatory session with all members attending. Many watched on as Bones was defending herself from attacks from her opposition, mainly Lucius Malfoy. The main topic of the day had been the unification treaty, Bones was hugely outnumbered on the matter but she still continued to push on.

"I wish to speak Chief Warlock."

All heads in the courtroom whipped their heads around to one of the upmost balconies, the one where the occupant was always seen and not heard: Baron Rothlilith.

The Rothliliths were one of the most prominent families in the world, muggle and magical, they were perhaps the wealthiest people in the world and the family still thrived after centuries. However while large, in the last hundred years the family had become less outspoken and remained behind the scenes, like puppet masters.

Their monopoly in the wizarding world was larger than it was in the muggle world, without them the magical economy would collapse. They held ownership in several huge quidditch stores and teams and held a majority in companies such as Zonko's Inc. and the Wizarding Wireless and other national companies over the world.

Their influence was large and wide, and whatever was about to come out of the current Baron Rothlilith of the English branch, mouth would undoubdtly be talked about for days.

"The chair recognizes the 44th Baron Rothlilith."

"Thank you Chief Warlock; I think both Lady Bones and Lord Malfoy present good cases, but a war cannot be won by a government divided. Thus if we cannot unite we will lose everything."

"Petty squabbling is for the weak, if you are not fit to act in a civilized manner in the court of ages; then you should not be here at all."

The room gaped as Lord Rothlilith took his seat in one of the highest booth's and looked down on the rest of the world, to his left many of the _old _families such as Westchester and Timmins nodded in agreement.

Those families had existed before the birth of Christianity and were the truly old families, forget the fancy ancient titles; these families were archaic, pre-historic.

The Vagueness in his words presented a dilemma to the courtroom below. He had not declared a side, but had been pretty clear in his statements that neither Bones nor Malfoy were fit to serve on the council at the time and in extension his disapproval of the current administration.

**~oOo~**

Harry Potter walked off the Hogwarts Express and descended into chaos. The platform was a bustling hub and finding anyone in this mess was going to be hard.

Hermione and Neville said their quick goodbyes and went off in search of Neville's Grandmother, not wanting to be there when Harry confronted Daphne's father. They met Tracy's anxiety stricken Mother who practically dragged Tracy off the platform before they could say anything.

Astoria and Daphne led Harry to the Greengrass Parents who were in a dark corner of the platform, waiting for their daughters in serene silence

"Harry, be cautious around them, as I have said before they have most likely taken the mark, However if you follow my lead we will be fine."

Harry nodded to Daphne curtly and approached the slender forms of Lord and Lady Greengrass with his new friends.

"Hello Daphne, Astoria and… Mr. Potter."

"Mr. Potter, you would do well to leave." Said Jasmine

"He has taken interest in me Mother."

Both Parents froze at the implications of his statement.

"Do you realize what you are saying?"

"Certainly, I wish for a betrothal contract to be set up between the Houses of Potter and Greengrass." Harry declared.

"Certainly not!"

"Father, you are forced to comply with the terms of the pre-existing contract."

"Absolutely not, Mr. Potter is not yet 15 and not the Head of House."

"Cyrus! This is our chance to save our daughter!"

"But... But..."

"No, Mr. Potter it will be a pleasure doing business with you." Jasmine Greengrass said.

"Great, let's say that we will sign the contract in five day's time at Gringotts, this Friday."

"Yes that will be preferable, Friday at 10:00 am."

"See you then."

"Goodbye Daphne, Astoria."

Harry Potter bent down and kissed his betrothed's hand then proceeded turned on his heel and proceeded to walk off the busy platform to rendezvous with his Relatives.

**~oOo~**

"Lucius, my friend, what news do you bring from the Wizengamot?"

"Milord, I fear something grave is coming."

"What is it Lucius?"

"Baron Rothlilith….He spoke..."

"What do you mean?"

"I was arguing with Bones about policies when Lord Rothlilith's spoke to the quorum saying that we were unfit to serve and uncivilized!"

Voldemort was enraged. Lucius had perhaps made an enemy out of a powerful family. This was bad, the Rothlilith's held enough support to destroy him; Lucius could have just woken a sleeping bear.

"YOU FOOL! DO YOU REALIZE WHAT YOU HAVE DONE, CRUCIO!"

Lucius Malfoy began to writhe on the ground in uncontrollable agony as the torture curse ripped through his body. The Dark Lord usually smiled at someone else's pain but this time his expression was of pure anger and malice.

Voldemort was heavily considering decapitating Lucius and sending the Head to the Baron Rothlilith as a peace offering. However he needed the funding and at this point Lucius had made one mistake that they had no idea of the outcome.

"You may have turned a very valuable person against us!"

"I'm…S.s. ...Milord! Never….Again, will it happen!"

"Severus!" The Dark Lord spat touching Lucius's Dark Mark. A few minutes later Severus Snape appeared in the Lord Voldemort's throne room. He immediately bowed down and kissed the hem of his master's robes.

"Severus my slippery friend, what news have you brought from Dumbledore?"

"Milord, I bring word that the old fool is planning to put his old club back together, The Order of the Phoenix."

"Has he offered you membership?"

"Yes."

"Did you accept?"

"I did, I hope I was not too presumptuous in taking it Milord."

"You make too many assumptions, despite the fact that you did what I would have suggested, you did not ask first. You will need to be punished." He thrust his wand in the air and muttered the incantation to the extreme regurgitation curse, it never hurt to mix things up.

"Report to me weekly on the going on's of the Order."

"Yes milord, is that all?" Snape managed to cough out.

"Yes Severus, you are dismissed."

_**~oOo~**_

The Dursleys were all waiting on the other side of the barrier to the platform 9 and 3 quarters. They were on their way back from picking Dudley up at Smelting's and were grumbling about having to wait for the freak.

Eventually the freak emerged from the other side and followed them to the car in silence, he sat in the car in silence and come to think of it by the time they arrived at #4 Privet Drive, Harry Potter hadn't said a word.

Once the car ride was over, the Dursleys were beginning to become suspicious of the boy; he was quiet, too quiet.

When they were exiting the car none of them dared to look at Harry Potter or even acknowledge him. But upon returning home, Harry Potter wasn't the only abnormality at Privet Drive. Their front door was wide open.

Petunia stared wide eyed in fear and turned to Vernon In shock. Dudley had absentmindedly entered the house and Vernon sharply looked at Harry who looked as confused as the Dursleys.

"BOY IF THIS IS ANY OF YOUR DOING IT WON'T WORK!" Vernon whispered

Vernon punched Harry's face with his large grubby hands rendering him unconscious. Vernon went into the trunk of his car and pulled out the rifle he had kept close to himself at all times since that night where the giant had attacked them on the island. He was going to end this freakish business once and for all.

He and Petunia went inside to gather their things and collect Dudley before leaving Privet Drive behind forever where the freaks couldn't find them.

The two entered the House and went straight for the kitchen but before they could get there, they noticed a tall scraggly man sitting in their living room looking at their pictures.

"Nice Family you have here Petunia, a little bit on the larger side but that's okay."

"Oh do you not recognize me? I was at Lily and James's wedding, the best man if you don't remember, Sirius Black."

Vernon stepped in front of Petunia in a protective stance, rifle in hand and held it up to Black's head.

"Get out of my house!"

"That's no way to greet an old friend."

"Are you going to kill us?" Petunia asked.

"I haven't decided."

"GET OUT OF MY HOUSE! Stop threatening us!"

"WHERE IS HARRY POTTER, WHERE IS MY GODSON!"

"He's not here!"

"Bloody likely, you are the registered guardians. Now unless you give me my godson there will be consequences."

He gave his wand a flick and a chair turned into a barking dog nipping at Vernon's leg. Petunia began to scream and hurl things at the dog.

"He is outside." Vernon said hurriedly.

Sirius bolted from the house and onto the driveway where his godson laid unconscious. He cradled Harry's head and cast some simple healing charms on him as tears rolled down his face.

"I'm sorry Harry, I have failed you again."

He was about to go back in the house and finish the Dursleys off, before he realized that his godson needed him, the Dursleys could wait. He would not repeat his mistakes once again and wind up in prison, away from his godson.

He gathered his Godson in his arms and apparated away leaving Privet Drive behind forever.

**~oOo~**

Eliza Rothlilith walked down an empty corridor of the ICW building in Geneva. Eliza was the German ambassador to the council and was currently on her way to a meeting with Millicent Bagnold, British Ambassador.

She had received a message from her Paterfamilias that morning. He had said that he was disappointed with Dumbledore and wanted him gone. It was her honor to carry out his request.

Eliza was the eldest daughter of Leonie and Lukas Rothlilith, who was the current head of the German Branch. His second cousin Amadeus was the current Archduke Rothlilith, paterfamilias of the whole Rothlilith family.

The Rothlilith's were among the most ancient of families in the world. Their wealth was unparalleled and their assets rivaled a small country. As the family was so big they had to have division heads, thus the reason for the heads of the German, French, English, American, Swiss, Luxemburg and Naples Branches. Amadeus Rothlilith in extension of his title of Paterfamilias was the direct head of the Austrian Branch, one of the largest. Originally the Headship of the entire family was held in Germany, but during the Second World War the headship had passed from the Germans to the Austrians.

Each branch prospered and most held high ranking nobility in their respective countries. The English for instance held two hereditary titles and five lines of the Austrian branch had been elevated to Nobility there. In total they held nobility in over 10 countries. A lot of there wealth stemmed from the fact that the Goblins rarely did Banking in mainland Europe, The Rothlilith's had taken advantage of that and now held a monopoly on European Banking, Magical and Muggle.

She knocked on the door to Bagnold's office and was granted entry.

"Ahh Eliza, good to see you, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I wish to take down Dumbledore and I need your help."

"But that wouldn't be any good; he is an advocate for my cause and my people."

"Do you think my Family and I know not of Lord Voldemort? I'm trying to get him off so that someone who will do something gets to be the Chancellor of the Wizengamot."

"Being Chancellor requires every country voting for you as their leader. I doubt that will happen, besides Dumbledore is doing a good enough job." Bagnold said with a skeptical look.

"He is not doing anything but watch! He has not won anyone over to your side and is too focused on other things to complete the job properly. Taking this load off of him would be okay."

"I see your point Eliza; I will get back to you." Millicent said slowly.

"Thank you for hearing me out, I will see you later Millicent."

With that the German Ambassador leaving a very stunned Millicent Bagnold behind pondering what she had meant, and what she planned to do.

**~OoO~**

Harry Potter woke up to find himself in a dark and dingy room lying on an old regal bed. He took in his surroundings and found the room surprisingly empty. However the few furnishings it did contain were rather gaudy and befitted the upper levels of society

He glanced around the room once again and had to do a double take when he saw his Godfather sleeping in a winged back chair. He was very confused as to why he was there, but felt immediately safer knowing he was.

He slowly crept out of the room and out into the hall. The corridor was just as dark as his bedroom and held many sleeping magical portraits. The Staircase was lined with heads of house elves in sealed frosty jars. He navigated his way down towards the main floor and found his former DADA Professor sitting in the kitchen drinking some tea.

"I see you are up Harry; you gave Sirius quite a scare and me as well."

"Professor? What are you doing here?"

"Harry you don't need to call me Professor, I'm not your teacher anymore. Call me Remus or Mooney."

"Okay, but that still doesn't answer my question….Remus."

"Well this is Sirius's house and because of my situation and living capabilities, Sirius let me move in."

"That was nice of him."

"It really was."

"Why am I here though?"

"Sirius said that he kept his promises and said that he was going to offer to let you stay here for the summer, so he left to collect you from the Dursleys the second you got on the train despite my numerous protests about him getting caught. He came back sobbing and cradling you in his arms saying that he had failed you again and refused to leave your side. He said something about your uncle giving you a concussion; I mended it while he got some sleep."

"I never realized that he cared about me that much."

"We both care for you a lot; it is our duty to Lily and James and to you, to protect you from harm. Sadly we have failed, but no longer are we at your service!"

"Thank you, that means a lot to me. How bad was the concussion?

"It wasn't as bad as you would think."

"How long was I out for?"

"Not long, about 24 hours its Tuesday now."

"Good, I still have time to prepare."

"Prepare for what?"

"I have a meeting at Gringotts on Friday at 10:00 am, think you could apparate me?"

"Certainly, why do you have a meeting there?"

"Oh just signing a betrothal contract." Remus burst out laughing.

"James would be proud of you Harry, and Sirius is going to be bloody jealous when he finds out."

**~~OO~~**

"Have you any idea what you have done Daphne?!"

"Yes mother, I am taking charge in my life. If you won't help me then I will help myself!"

"I told you Daphne we are in negotiations with the Greys'."

"Oh really?" She asled sarcastically

"Why, you ungrateful bitch! You will not talk to your mother that way!"

"You better watch yourself Cyrus, I'm prepared this time, you lay one hand on me and I swear!" She said fiddling with the knife in her pocket

"After all that I've done for you!"

"You've already taken the mark, haven't you?"

"Daphne, that is not…"

"You did, YOU DID! Even after my warning!"

"Daphne we didn't have a choice, we've been through this. This is all to protect you and Astoria."

"If you really loved us then you would sacrifice your lives for us!"

"Bint, I have put a roof over your head and paid for everything you've ever wanted!"

"YOU ALSO BEAT THE FUCK OUT OF A TEN YEAR OLD GIRL AND TOOK ADVANTAGE OF HER!"

Silence reigned over the big entry hall of Greengrass Manor. Her mother had begun to cry and Astoria was gripping onto the seams of Daphne's robes, hiding behind her. Cyrus looked ready to burst and Daphne's face was lined with tears.

"Daphne… I don't know how many times I have to apologize, what do I have to do?"

"You will sign a new contract for me, find a proper suitor for Astoria and leave me alone for the rest of my life!"

"Daphne…"

"I will see you at Gringotts on Friday at 10:00 am!"

With that Daphne turned to her sobbing sister.

"Well are you coming?"

She looked very hesitant, but ended up nodding in the negative infuriating Daphne; Astoria's betrayal stung very much. She gave one last furious glance around the Manor she had called home for so long, before throwin the grand doors to the Manor open. Magic sizzled in the air with every step she took and windows began to shatter, furniture began to explode and be tossed about the halls.

Daphne flew across the grounds in a blind fury, down to the gates destroying everything in her path. She took one last look over her shoulder at Greengrass Manor, Her mother sobbing running across the fields after her; crying out her name.

Tears rolled down her eyes as she left the front gates of her home one last time. She took a big breath before apparating away to begin her new life.

**~~ooOOoo~~**

Millicent Bagnold apparated out of Geneva as fast as she could, this was bad very bad. The Rothlilith's were mounting an attack on democracy. This would not do.

It explained everything, the vague words of Baron Rothlilith, Eliza's mysterious idea and the hushed words at the ICW today.

The Rothlilith posed a serious threat to the world's magical population and should not be given free control. The last time the Rothlilith's had been in charge thousands had lost their lives and were forced to act as slaves to their masters. Of course that was over 500 hundred years ago and merely rumors for the general public, she knew the truth. As the Minister for Magic she had been given access to confidential information. The rumors were indeed true and only after a fifty year war did the Rothlilith's surrender, they were told to stay out of the way and be seen and not heard. They kept their holdings and many titles but lost all real power they held.

She considered that a big enough threat that Voldemort seemed like a niffler.

She needed to defeat the threat, and in order to do combat the threat she needed allies. This also pressed the issue of her becoming Minister even more.

But who would she go to for help: people idolized the Rothlilith's; no one would believe or help her. Bones was in no position to prove herself as an asset and the other high ranking purebloods that held power would be quick to bow down.

This left two very undesirable options, Potter, or even worse; Dumbledore. No matter how much she hated the old fool, she respected him and would undoubtdly believe her. He could sway Potter over to her side.

She would be forced to work with some people she could not stand, but she would be damned before she saw the world she strived so hard to create be demolished by some old family.

**.oOo.**

"Arthur, we need to leave England, this plan is tearing our family apart, and Ronald is dead! Our son!"

"Ronald Billius is no son of mine!"

"HE WAS JUST A CHILD!"

"Whatever he was, it is done."

"Arthur we need to leave!"

"I will not leave the home of my ancestors over some petty war! Clan Weasley was once grand and our assets vast! But because of House Potter we are nothing! I will get my revenge even if it kills me!"

"I agree with Dad, We still have a chance to get with him, rumors are circulating that he and that Greengrass slag were spotted together on the train, If we meet him in Diagon Alley sometime over the next few days we can arrange a betrothal contract between I and him, saying that it is our apology for Ron."

"And if he doesn't accept?" Asked one of the twins

"He will." Responded Ginny harshly.

"We must stand united as the last of the Clan Weasley; we will regain our rightful Nobility and get the revenge we so truly deserve."

**~~ooOOoo~~**

The chimes marked the midnight hour and showed the many occupants into the grand dining room of Schloss Wertvoll. The room was dimly lit and furnished for the 18th century. The Majestic room was lined with beautiful and valuable paintings, both magical and muggle from different eras. The sleek black table in the middle of the room was lined with 32 chairs. All occupants took their designated spots.

"I thank you all for coming." Spoke the older man sitting at the head of the table, dressed in his finest clothes.

"It is our duty grandfather." A teenager said from the back, dressed in a mature way that was unusual for a 15 year old.

"How are our plans moving along?" the Man asked at the head of the table.

"Naples is safely under control; Magical and Muggle." a man declared with a thick French accent, closer to the other end of the long table.

"Luxemburg has been secured." Spoke an older woman sitting at the other end of the table.

"Germany was too easy." Another added.

"I am having trouble with France; Delacour is presenting a strong opposition." One of them sneered.

"The amount of fair democracy in the United States is causing me quite a bit of setbacks; however our name still carries a lot of weight." The man sitting at the end of the table said.

"And Britain?" Asked someone.

"I have made sure that the unification treaty will never come to realization. Control is easily managed; the politics there is run by a select few."

"Francois, how are the negotiations with the Grey's going?"

"They have bluntly refused to help us Amadeus. They think that old money is going the way of the dinosaur and that we have to get with the times." a man sitting at the middle of the table sneered.

"That is not good; they will have to be disposed of, a shame. Who's next on our list, the Davenports are extinct, if I'm not mistaken?

"Actually Grandfather, the Potters are their direct descendants, Lester Potter was born Lester Davenport but ended up changing his name when his brother ended up claiming the Headship in 1764. When the family died out in 1967, the family assets and titles reverted to the closest relatives, the Potters as they were still technically Davenport blood. It was known on many occasions that Charlus Potter would flaunt his title as Marquees Davenport to gain more political leverage."

"You are saying that the boy-who-lived is the current Lord Davenport?"

"Correct Grandfather, by the end of the month he will be officially Lord Davenport."

"It seems then that you; Edmund must go and befriend the Potter boy."

"Very well, I will travel to England tomorrow and contact him."

"I will arrange for a portkey to be provided. Eliza, how is our progress in ICW?"

"It is presenting quite a challenge, however money makes the world go round. However, I have a feeling that Bagnold didn't hear me out and could cause a problem."

"This is not new, Bagnold will have to be eliminated as well, Edward."

"I will do anything it takes." Bowed Edward

"If all goes well, by the end of the month Voldemort will be eradicated… Along with Democracy."

**.oOo.**

-Thank you all for reading and following- I hope that by the end of this update that I will break 200 followers.

-The main reason for the delay of this chapter was that I was finishing up the three part story arc that begins next chapter, I wanted them to flow and make sure that they were consistent during my writing, there will be a lot of twists in turns in the next three chapters, I am not at liberty to say much, without giving anything away.

-I would also like to say to no one that I am super excited for Mariah Carey and Miguel's new single #Beautiful that comes out on Monday may 6th

-As always I would like to thank the amazing Anka7995 for beta'ing the story.

-Remember to review! I feel like I don't get enough of the reviews.


	6. The Truth Will Out, Part 1

_**The Truth Will Out-Part 1**_

_**Beware, this chapter contains the mandatory awful and cliché Gringotts inheritance scene, I tried to downplay it as mush as I could. Graphic scenes towards the end in italics.**_

~oOo~

Tracy Davis was enjoying a nice cup of tea by the fire with her family; well most of her family anyway, her brother Stanley was in Australia playing quidditch.

The rain had been pouring outside for the last two days and her father was just finishing up closing down his apothecary in Diagon Alley for the summer while they went on vacation. It was a tradition to go somewhere exotic every summer; they had already gone to almost every country in the Caribbean, so they decided to visit Greece this year.

The Davis family was a fairly new one and would be considered very new money, it didn't help that her father had married a Muggleborn; as such she was not very popular in Slytherin house.

Daphne and Blaise were pretty much her only friends; the three of them were sort of outcasts in Slytherin house. Blaise's mother was a gold digger, whose husband's always mysteriously died on the honeymoon, leaving her in charge of their large fortunes; as such no one with any sensibility got close to Blaise.

Daphne on the other hand was very different; she used to be a very easygoing and careless girl, until she turned 10. Her father hung with the wrong crowd very often and one time when he had come home drunk at ten at night.

Her mother had been very displeased with him staying out late at night and had argued with him at length. Her father grew impatient with Jasmine and slapped her in the face. Daphne had been watching them since she had heard her father come in the house and start raising his voice.

She was horrified by her father and stepped out of the shadows to try and help but ended up infuriating her father even more. Her dad took his rage out on her and began to beat her senseless, he used the Cruciatus curse, conjured a baseball bat, and to the horror of everyone living at Greengrass manor, he raped her.

Daphne's mother had just stood there as she was being raped by her father, Astoria had begun to wail upstairs from the screams and her dad kept going. Eventually he stopped and left a mangled Daphne at the bottom of the stairs, clothes torn and body broken.

Her father was a huge business client of Cyrus Greengrass's and had even been appointed Daphne's godfather. The next day he had gone over to her house with his family for their weekly brunch at Greengrass manor.

They found Daphne lying at the bottom of the stairs frozen. David Davis hardly got angry but seeing his goddaughter lying beaten and defeated at the bottom of the grand staircase had enraged him. Her father had immediately started a fight with Daphne's parents and severed any ties they held and took Daphne back to their estate.

They nursed Daphne back to health, but she wasn't the same, she was very quiet and rarely left her room. Eventually their request for guardianship had been denied and the Greengrass family had pulled their considerable weight to reclaim Daphne.

Her father and mother had been shocked about the matter, but were forced to comply. They tried to reopen the case once but Daphne's father filed a restraining order against the Davis family. The Davis parents had been cut off as godparents and would be fined 100,000 galleons should they be within a 10 m distance of Daphne. Tracy had been spared of the law being underage and as Daphne's best friend was permitted to spend time with her and venture into Greengrass Manor.

She felt awful for the life her friend had lived. She wanted nothing more than for Daphne to be happy once again. When she had heard that Harry Potter had made her heart melt for once she knew that they could be a good for each other. When Neville had told her about the abuse Harry had suffered from at the hands of his relatives she was convinced that they would be perfect for each other.

She continued on that train of thought, but was quickly brought out of her reflections by a thump on the door.

Her father who was gazing out of the floor to ceiling window which was shrouded by dark rain immediately whipped his head around to see the cause of the disturbance.

The Davis family house was not very large compared to other Family manors. The house had been constructed little over a hundred years ago and was only two stories high and about the size of a regular Godric's Hollow manor house.

Tracy's father immediately went for his wand and motioned for Tracy and her mother Ellie to hide.

He slowly approached the door to the house and gave one last glance at his family before opening the door to the house slightly.

Outside their house was Daphne Greengrass on their front porch dripping wet, she looked like she had been crying, her face was red and eyes puffy. She held her head low and wand to her side.

"Daphne?" Her father asked stunned.

Daphne's face briefly flickered into a smile before collapsing on the house's threshold.

~oOo~

Harry and Remus were on their way back following their watching of a muggle movie at a muggle theatre. As a child Harry had never been able to venture out into muggle culture and Remus upon hearing this had been shocked, he set forth remedying the situation and upon Harry finishing his lunch earlier that day he had been dragged out of the house.

It was now almost one in the morning and Remus had just finished taking Harry to one of James's favourite clubs in muggle London.

They were just opening the door to Grimmauld Place and were treated to the sight of a livid Sirius punching Remus in the gut.

"Imagine to my shock when I wake up, that my godson has disappeared and my best friend with him!" Sirius exclaimed.

"We left a note…"Remus began trying to explain the situation. He found it odd that Sirius would mind taking Harry for clubbing, considering the time he and James spent in the clubs.

"I don't care, Remus how could you! Taking my godson clubbing before I could!" Sirius exclaimed rather whined.

'Ah...' Remus thought, 'That's more like it. There is still hope in this world...'

Harry just stared wide eyed at his parents best friends fighting over the fact that Mooney had taken him clubbing first. In the midst of all of this Walburga Black begin to shriek at the top of her lungs about filthy blood traitors and half breeds.

"Fine Mooney, however I get to be Harry's wingman first!" Sirius said and Harry wondered who was the child here?

Lupin was just about to but in but Harry wanted to just stop the fighting so they could have a decent conversation and also so he could tell Sirius that he never was going to have a wingman.

"I'm sorry Sirius but you won't be my wingman." Harry said.

"But…But..." As he stammered, his eyes and facial features turning into that of a kicked puppy.

"Because that would be inappropriate for a married man." Harry completed.

"MARRIED!" Sirius exclaimed his mouth hanging open.

"Yes Sirius, as of this Friday I will be betrothed." Harry explained calmly to his hysterical godfather.

"What! To who?"

"Daphne Greengrass."

"HA! Even your half-blood godson had the decency to follow the old ways and marry a pureblood!" Exclaimed Walburga Black, receiving a dirty look from Sirius.

"SHUT UP HAG!" Sirius shouted.

"Is she attractive?" He added to Harry.

"Very, probably the best looking in Hogwarts currently." Remus piped in.

"Well in that case, I'm very jealous and need to be given introduction." Sirius said smiling slightly.

"Well I'm really just helping her get out of an old contract." Harry began.

"Well it's better than being in the friend zone." Sirius added wisely.

"Very true, Padfoot." Remus agreed nodding.

"I've missed you Harry." Sirius said hugging his godson.

"Me too Sirius, thanks for the room." Harry replied hugging back.

"No problem, it's my duty as you're godfather, though I was thinking we could maybe move into one of the Potter houses."

"Why?"

"This house brings back bad memories."

"Okay, when I go to Gringotts on Friday I can sort things out."

"Great, by the way you got a few letters today; your owl wouldn't let me touch them." Remus and Harry snickered much to Sirius's chagrin.

Sirius led them into the dining room where the letters were all laid out on the table. They all sat around the table and gazed expectantly at Harry waiting for him to open the letters.

He opened the first one and read them one by one. The first one was from Hermione and Neville, asking how he was and inquiring about a possible double date with Daphne. The second one was from the Weasleys;

_Dear Harry_

_I trust you are being treated well by your relatives. We offer you are saddest apologies about the way Ronald Billius acted towards you and promise that he has been punished accordingly _

_Ginny and the Twins are quite worried about you and have helped me pen the letter, didn't want to waste paper for different letters, do we?_

_We would like to invite you over at some point, does later this month sound alright?_

_With much love- _

_The Weasleys._

He scoffed at the letter and sent it down to the table to Sirius and Remus.

"I kind of feel bad for the Weasleys but since me and Ron are no longer friends, there isn't really a connection."

"I never understood why you and that Weasley boy were friends in the first place; I was quite surprised when I saw you defending him in the Shrieking Shack." Said Sirius

"Why?" Harry asked confused.

"Well considering the Potters are the reason why the Weasleys are poor in the first place." Sirius said.

"What?" Harry said his jaw open.

"Well back in the 1500's they killed a Potter and the then Head of House completely and utterly destroyed the Clan of Weasley taking everything they had."

"That's barbaric!"

"Not back then, families were very important, still are, in the eyes of the wizarding world they committed a most heinous crime, unbefitting of a pureblood family."

"But taking everything they own…isn't that a bit much."

"Let's say that instead of Voldemort killing you're parents, it was Arthur Weasley."

"I see your point."

"So now I'm thinking that you've been played."

"But they were so genuine. They probably wouldn't hold a grudge for 500 years."

"Oh but they would, Wizarding Families can hold very long feuds. I would bet everything that the Black family owns that the Weasleys were going to take all of your money."

"It would certainly explain their keeping my ignorant of my heritage."

"What do you mean?"

"I didn't know that I was the heir of the Potter/ Davenport family until just before the end of term."

"That is not okay! Didn't Dumbledore say anything at least?"

"I can understand his reasons after some recent revelations. But I still think we should teach the Weasleys what it means to mess with Harry Potter."

"No, we do not need to waste any more time on petty grudges from petty families. Read the next letter."

_Dear Mr. Potter_

_I think we got off on the wrong foot. I am truly sorry for snapping at you earlier, times were tense and your mentions of Sirius Black stirred up unwanted feelings._

_I was wondering if you would meet me at the Leaky Cauldron 1:00 Friday for another meeting._

_I hope to see you there_

_Minister for Magic Amelia Bones_

"Well it looks like that I will be meeting Bones after my betrothal contract is signed."

"Yes, I can't wait to see old Bonsie."

"Sirius you're not coming."

"Actually, I will have to come sign the marriage contract, as you're legal guardian until the end of the month it is necessary."

"But you can't just waltz into Gringotts!"

"You think the Goblins care about Wizard laws, money goes along way there and fortunately, money is something I have in great quantities."

"But what if Bones catches you!"

"If the Dementors couldn't then it's likely she won't. Besides me and Amelia have a good history."

_Dear Mr. Potter_

_You may be wondering why I have mailed you. I will not exchange small talk, but I would like to request a meeting, on the twentieth at the Golden Truffle in Diagon Alley. I trust that Albus will be attending as well; we have some very important business to discuss that cannot be talked about in open letters._

_I will meet you on the twentieth._

_The Right Honorable Millicent Bagnold, OBE, OMFC, British Ambsdr. To the ICW._

"I wonder what she could be talking about."

"Politics, Bagnold will be ruthless and try and gain you're support. No matter how much of a bitch she is, she could be a powerful ally."

"But Bones is doing a good job."

"Doesn't matter, Bagnold has a way with words and if she sets her mind to it she can get anything done."

"Whatever, Politics are not something I am very interested in. I will listen to her but not promise anything I don't have to."

"Holy crap, that's the Rothlilith Crest, Open the letter Harry." Exclaimed Sirius as he looked over the last ornate letter.

_Dear Lord Davenport_

_You are formally invited to tea at Waddeson Manor in Buckinghamshire Sunday at 12:00 am. I hope to receive your reply promptly._

_Edmund Rothlilith, 32nd Baronet Rothlilith, Heir of the Most Archaic and Honored House of Rothlilith._

~oOo~

Amelia scooped another mouthful of food into her mouth at the dining room table in Bones Manor. It was the first time that week that she had sat down with her niece for the week.

The Rothlilith's had been plaguing her mind ever since that day in the Wizengamot. He had been able to shut everybody up and the rest of her agenda had been completely disregarded. The newspapers begun publishing articles about how the Wizengamot needed reforming and certain families needed to be put under observation, Namely the Malfoy's and Bones'.

The Press was hounding for her to step down, saying that if the Archaic houses thought she wasn't fit to be Minister, than she was obviously not fit to be Minister.

She needed to act fast if she was going to have any chance at saving her career, and with the incident with the Rothlilith's her least desirable option was needed.

She had prepared the whole plan in her head a few days ago. During her meeting with Harry Potter, she would place a tracking charm on him, from there; she would use the charm to get to Black.

She would announce that they had found new information on Black and that the unspeakable's had deducted that he was responsible for Lord Voldemort's return.

She would immediately go in for the kill and stage a whole trial, rigged against him. She would never live through the guilt, but it must be done for the greater good.

~oOo~

Eliza Rothlilith was very concerned about her plans, she had been staging her overthrow of Dumbledore for today but Bagnold refused to play her part.

She wandered up to Bagnold's station in the convocation room a begun her interrogation.

"Bagnold, what are you playing at? We had a deal."

"I have decided that it is not in my best interests."

"How dare you defy the house of Rothlilith!"

Bagnold stared at her gobsmacked at her revelation.

"Excuse me!"

"You should bow down before you're superiors Millicent."

"Superior? Were you Minister for Magic, have you been awarded the Order of Merlin First Class?" "Come now Bagnold, you are just new money; you must respect your elders."

"As long as I serve on this council, you will not be chancellor!"

"Then you will have to be replaced."

~OoO~

The Days passed by all too quickly for Daphne. The Davis's had taken her in to their home and had readily agreed to take her to Gringotts on Friday where she would see her parents for the last time; she had been counting down the days until then.

She had collapsed with magical exhaustion the second she made it to the Davis home; apparently apparating distances of over 100 kilometers were very tiring on an undeveloped magical core.

She woke up later the next day and had been bombarded with Questions. She told them that she decided to leave the family for good; they thought that response was satisfactory.

After that; things went by quickly, she rarely communicated to anyone besides Tracy who was helping her with preparations for the signing.

That was how she found herself on Friday morning standing in the entryway of Davis Hall. She was dressed in her Sunday best and she was waiting for David to come down.

"You're sure about this Daphne?"

"I'm quite sure; I need to get away from Cyrus and that god-awful marriage contract ASAP."

"Very well hold my arm than."

She gripped David Davis's arm and in a flash she found herself in Diagon Alley, bustling with morning shoppers. The two made their way up to the Marble white building that was Gringotts and quickly hurried through the pristine bank up to the first teller.

"We are here for the scheduled meeting with the Greengrass and Potter envoys."

"Very well, Gnarlsnok will lead the way to the chamber." The Goblin snarled

The other goblin presumably name Gnarlsnok lead Daphne through the winding halls of the outback in Gringotts right to the conference room.

David was not allowed to participate in the proceedings, as he was not a member of the family; so he went back to Davis Hall and left Daphne to meet her future betrothed.

She appeared to be the last one to arrive as the frightened Greengrass's, Potter and some other tall scraggly guy were already there.

In the middle of the small room was a table with the long Marriage contract that decided her fate sat.

"Well now that we are all here we may begin." Started the Goblin

"Good, let's get this over with, I have better things to do today then listen to you rattle on."

"Mr. Black, please be quiet during the proceedings, you are needed to sign the contract and that is all."

"Black, as in Sirius Black?" Asked Daphne

"Yes Ms. Greengrass."

"What the hell is he doing here?"

"My thoughts exactly." Snarled her father

"He is my Godfather and technically my legal guardian until the 31st." explained Harry.

"But... But..." Said Daphne in confusion

"All will be explained later."

"Very well, I will start; I Cyrus Nathaniel Greengrass do hereby offer my daughter for the sum of 500,000 galleons to the House of Potter, negating all outstanding contracts."

"I, Sirius Orion Black, Guardian of House Potter do hereby accept you're offer."

The two then took matching Blood Quills and signed the Paper gracefully and quickly. When it was all said and done Cyrus immediately fled while Jasmine lingered, throwing her daughter a pitiful look. Tears rolled down her face, as if she wanted to say something, but decided against it and went after her husband.

Her body almost crumpled at the sight of her parents walking away from her life forever. However Harry came to her rescue and held her upright. He was really doing so much for her, for really no reason at all, contrary to what she wanted to think, she really cared for him now.

"Thanks Harry, for everything." She leaned in and gave Harry a very long and passionate kiss, much to the chagrin of his Godfather.

"Daphne, would you like to come and stay with me, I mean from the looks of it you aren't on the friendliest terms with your parents. I mean, I don't want to presume anything of course but-."

"Of course I'll come live with you, will be together for the rest of our lives might as well get used to it." Daphne said gratefully.

"Well Daphne we have a couple meetings to do today, and as the future spouse of the head of house of Potter and Davenport it is you're duty to partake in them."

"It would be my honor." She said with a playful bow.

"I hate to rain on you lovebirds fun, but we have another meeting down the hall in less than a minute so we better get going." Said Sirius

He led them down the hall and opened the Door that read account manager Hooksnarl and pushed them inside.

"Welcome Mr. Potter, Mrs. Potter and Mr. Black." The aged goblin said grinning from behind the leather desk at the back of the room.

"Yes thank you; just get down to the business, what the Potters have to their name."

"Fine, if you want business that's what you'll get."

"Thank you."

The Goblin opened a big catalogue on his desk and scanned it for a few minutes before returning to his conversation with the others.

"It seems that the Potter Vaults all together check in at just under a million galleons, around 90% less than what they were before the war."

"What? I don't understand, James was always bragging about how wealthy he was?"

"It seems that during the last war, James Potter took out a lot of money in support of the war, he sold of two of the three potter properties, though most of the family heirlooms remain intact."

"But James… Harry….. How could he do this to him?"

"Well, all is not lost. Though James Potter has completely decimated the Potter fortune, your Grandfather was much wiser. He knew that James Potter had no appreciation for wealth and its accumulation, so he locked off the Davenport family vaults until the next generation."

"And what exactly do the Davenports hold?" Questioned Harry

"During their heyday they were comparable to the Rothlilith's, however as time grew on, the family did not and the family and many of their mainland holdings were drained out by the Second World War."

"Now, when Esher Davenport died in 1967, the Davenport headship was relayed to the Potters, who are technically Davenports by blood."

"Charlus Potter inherited the Davenport family headship and decided to use it to his advantage; for the most part he kept it a secret, using it only when necessary."

"Only the old families know who the next lord Davenport is."

"The Davenport vaults currently hold around 25 million galleons in their vaults and 5 properties scattered across the globe. As heir Potter, you stand to inherit the Davenport Family Trust as well and upon your emancipation will become the Marquis Davenport and Baron Potter."

"Oh my goodness Harry, you're almost as rich as the Malfoy's." Daphne exclaimed.

"Could you do something for me Manager Hooksnarl?"

"Yes Mr. Black?"

"I would like a complete inventory on the Black Family, who stands to inherit the headship and if anybody is still alive and while you're at it fetch me some emancipation papers."

"Emancipation papers?"

"I would like Harry to be emancipated sooner rather than later."

"Very well." the Goblin huffed who dashed out of his office to find the required papers.

"Umm, Harry?"

"Yes Daphne."

"What exactly is the Mass Murderer Sirius Black doing here with us?"

"Well it's a long story, but he is actually innocent and since he is my Godfather I need him here to sign my papers."

"Not for much longer, after today you will be Lord Potter, free of restrictions!"

It was at that point that the Goblin hobbled back into the room with another big catalogue which he promptly opened and gazed over."

"According to the bank, the current Baron Black is you Mr. Black, it seems that you're grandfather Arcturus outlived Orion his heir. Arcturus reinstated you to the family, citing "The Black title will never fall into the Malfoy's hands, If Sirius dies in prison so be it but I will sooner destroy the Family than give it to Lucius Malfoy."

"And of their assets?"

"Over 10 million galleons in liquid wealth, 4 properties, one of them are listed as being inhabited by Cassiopeia Black but I don't know how recent that data is."

"Very good, fill out the Emancipation papers and send them to the ministry in my name."

"As you wish Lord Black."

"Come along children we have a meeting with the Minister." Sirius said as he transformed back into a dog leading Harry and a very confused Daphne away from Gringotts.

~oOo~

"Amadeus, I have already refused to take part in your games."

"It is a shame that it has come to this Dolce."

"No one person should hold that much power."

"That is none of your concern." Snapped Amadeus

"What are you going to do to me?"

"Your Family will be obliterated. As we speak you're wife and children are being killed along with all of your cousins."

"What has happened to you Amadeus?"

"It is more of what has happened to you Dolce."

"You won't win, the people won't let you."

"Wizards and Muggles were meant to be ruled, they live to serve."

"Amadeus, you forget that you are merely human as well."

"Be that as it may, we are above you. Always have been and always will be."

"Do your worst Amadeus, you will not succeed."

"Goodbye Dolce. Avada Kedavra!"

~oOo~ (_Italics indicate Flashbacks)_

Amelia Bones twirled her hand on the desk at the Leaky Cauldron room she had requested. Aurors lined the walls for two reasons, for her safety and to track Sirius Black.

She was going to regret her decision for the rest of her life, but it needed to be done, no more people would die, no more innocent children dying at the hands of someone else.

_She walked down the cold cobblestone street of some magical village in the north of England. It had been reported that Voldemort and his Death Eaters had attacked the village. The village had once been quant, tiny and picturesque, but was now tainted with the stench of darkness. Where Children had been playing mere moments ago had been turned into a battlefield of death and blood, gone was the laughter that had once filled the streets; replaced with screams of horror and bitter agony._

Every time she thought about letting Sirius go free, her mind went back to the pale face of the dead child, a whole life taken away because of Lord Voldemort.

_She stepped forward after taking out another Death Eater by a rickety swing set. She heard more screams from down the path and then suddenly they stopped. She chased after where the echoes of screams had been moments ago. _

In the grand scheme of things, the life of Sirius Black was outweighed by the lives of the countless innocent people who were being killed each day.

_The other Aurors were finishing binding the Death Eaters when she fell upon their last gift. The children who had been playing in the park were now littered across the street, lifeless corpses. She looked over them in despair, their eyes still wide opened and shocked by the torture they had suffered from. These children, their future had been massacred because she hadn't been prepared. Their bodies pale, empty of blade; ones had been decapitated, another lost a leg and an arm. One was still slightly alive and writhing in pain muttering his last words over and over again._

If killing Sirius Black was what it took to sway the politicians and the public to let her do her job, then that was what needed to be done.

_"Please."_

She heard a knock at the door. The Aurors intercepted her and opened the door revealing Harry Potter, another girl and a familiar shaggy black dog.

"Forgive the Aurors Mr. Potter they refuse to let me go anywhere now by myself."

"It's quite alright, forgive this mangy mutt, I found him on the streets today and he won't leave me alone, let me introduce my lovely companion, Daphne Greengrass, my betrothed."

"Pleasure, please take a seat." Amelia said cordially.

"I think we got off on the wrong foot Mr. Potter, I hope that we can resolve our differences for the good of our world."

"It would be much appreciated, I should apologize for the way I reacted, and I meant no offense."

The conversation continued for a while and the Aurors discreetly put the tracking charm on Harry. However the dog seemed to notice and began to howl at the Aurors.

And then it happened.

An Auror who was trying to calm the dog down stunned it but got more than he bargained for, the dog shifted back into the form of Sirius Black and one of the female Aurors let out a high pitched shriek.

Harry tried to defend the dog and Daphne fled to his side. But Amelia's face turned into a small smirk, who knew it would've been so easy.

"HE'S INNOCENT!" Cried out Harry.

"AURORS! ARREST HARRY POTTER, HIS COMPANION, AND SIRIUS BLACK, BRING THEM INTO CUSTODY!"

With that all three of them were bound and levitated to a Ministry holding cell to await trial.

~oOo~

1. Sorry for the cliffhanger, won't be too long till the next chapter, however don't get used to updates every three days.

's flashbacks, those were added at last minute by me. I wanted to write a full section on it, I however decided against it, I kept it short and simple. If I ever write an extended version or an outtakes thing, then perhaps a more full representation of that scene may be used. I don't think that Amelia Bones is cold hearted, she is more disenchanted then anything, but she is still human. She needed more motivation than her career being in danger. Her flashbacks were also a last minute decision, so they weren't beta'd.

3. I don't plan to include Daphne's parents much more in this story, they may pop up at the trial, but that will be it. Daphne is done with them and is closing that chapter of her life, she needs to move on and being around her parents won't help her with that. For Astoria... well let's just say that it will be a while before we see here again, the next few chapters will be Daphne/Harry/Sirius heavy and there won't be much room for anything else.

4. As I have said in the last chapter, this is the first of three parts, the next part will include different characters perspectives and the way the media presents it, the third will be the Trial and Aftermath; that chapter has clocked in at almost 9,000 words!

5. As always, I would like to thank my wonderful Beta Anka7995

6. Please Review! I will only post the next part when I reach 65 reviews. (at the time of writing this I am at 52). I want to hear what you think and love your input.


	7. The Truth Will Out, Part 2

The Truth will Out- Part 2

_~oOo~_

_Boy-Who-Lied?_

_By Rita Skeeter _

_In a stunning turn of events it seems that Minister Bones has done what the past administrations haven't, she has captured Sirius Black!_

_Early Friday Afternoon it was reported that Harry Potter and his new beau Daphne Greengrass arrived at a meeting with Minister Bones, here's the catch, instead of having a nice friendly meeting they planned on killing the former head of the DMLE! With the aid of known Azkaban escapee Sirius Black!_

_That's right readers; Harry Potter is in league with Mass Murderer Sirius Black! He is betraying his parent's memory and becoming the next Dark Lord._

_New Evidence has surfaced that Sirius Black is also responsible for the Dark Lord's return and that Harry Potter joined his ranks that night by killing Cedric Diggory._

_The three of them were arrested and currently inhabit a ministry holding cell awaiting a Trial. _

_The ministry reports that they will not be receiving separate trials and will be tried together._

_They have charged Harry Potter with the Murder of Cedric Diggory, Treason and harbouring a fugitive. If he is convicted he could receive the Dementors Kiss._

_But my question is; how did Harry Potter become so dark?_

_Many have suggested that the Influence of the known Dark Family Greengrass are responsible. Others suggest that the death of Cedric Diggory drove him over the edge and others suggest that it all goes back to the death of his Parents._

_Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter's classmate has told this reporter that Harry Potter had no real talent and depended on his fame to get through school and always felt the need to lie so as to look good in the eyes of others._

_We at the Daily Prophet offer our gravest condolences to the families that have died because of the Dark Lord and those responsible for his return. We hope that justice is rightfully served to Harry Potter, Daphne Greengrass and Sirius Black._

_~oOo~_

People all around the globe were shook to the core by news of the arrest of Harry Potter, his betrothed and Sirius Black. No one had ever believed that they could be capable of such acts. Other People grew concerned as to why this was happening.

Albus Dumbledore threw down his hands on his desk in a fury, this could not be happening, this would not be happening. Bones had crossed the line by arresting them, she knew better than anyone else that they were innocent but was doing everything she could to save her career.

He remembered the old Amelia Bones, the one who was ruthless to get the truth, not the one who had turned into a backstabbing politician. The old Amelia was dead.

She had flat out refused him access to Ms. Greengrass, Sirius and Harry. He had tried to set himself up as their attorney but had been denied saying that they were still being questioned for the Dark Lords whereabouts.

It had been less than 24 hours since their arrest and people were panicking, Remus Lupin had arrived yelling insults at him and trying to gain any information.

His fireplace all of a sudden flashed green and his head locked in on it.

"It's me Millicent, I am coming through."

Five seconds later Millicent Bagnold emerged from the fireplace, youthfulness and all; it was hard to believe that a 52 year old could have accomplished so much in her short life.

"Albus we have a problem, I know you and I don't see eye to eye often but I think this merits discussion."

"You speak of Harry Potter."

"Yes, we cannot afford to have him locked away or killed. You and I both know that he is essential to the Dark Lord's defeat."

"You wish for his defeat?"

"Of course I do! I will not let some Half Blood hillbilly cause havoc and destroy the legacy and the country I worked so very hard to build! Voldemort will be stopped!"

"And how will you stop him?"

"That is where you come in, we both know that Bones has become a tyrant, she needs to be stopped, when my vote of No-Confidence comes around you will put all your support behind me."

"Why should I do that, you were as much a tyrant as she was."

"You know that I did great things, don't deny that I made the wizarding world a better place. I did my best to help with the recovery of the wizarding world, Bones may seem like the ideal leader during a war but she isn't a politician, it is too much to handle for her!"

"I understand, but how do you propose do get the public on your side, it seems that they are gravitating to bones at the moment."

"Leave that to me."

_**~oOo~**_

_Dumbledore speaks out!_

_By Horatio Homunculus_

_During a press conference today Albus Dumbledore, acclaimed Headmaster of Hogwarts, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot since 1948, Supreme Mugwump of the ICW, Order of Merlin First Class gave his opinion on Harry Potter's arrest._

"_As headmaster of Hogwarts I have seen no evidence that Harry Potter would ever commit the crimes he is accused of. I fully intend to get to the bottom of this and hope that the truth will out."_

_Through his vague words we can deduce that he is against his student's arrest. We fully hope that he is right; it is still hard to believe that our saviour would turn on us and become the very thing his parents died protecting him from._

~oOo~

Molly Weasley tore a new one through Arthur and the rest of the Weasley family. Across their new living room lay many bags filled to the brim with their stuff.

"WE ARE LEAVING THIS INSTANT, I HAVE NO CARE IN THE WORLD FOR PETTY REVENGE, HARRY POTTER HAS BEEN ARRESTED AND WE HAVE NO CHANCE AT GETTING AT HIM ANYMORE."

"NO! MY REVENGE WILL BE HAD!"

"THERE IS NO REVENGE TO BE HAD, LOOK AROUND YOU! HARRY POTTER WILL BE CONVICTED AND HIS MONEY WILL BE TAKEN BY THE MINISTRY AND HIS THINGS WILL BE DESTROYED ALONG WITH ANY LAST REMENATS OF THE POTTERS! WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT!"

"Fine, kids pack your things were leaving."

~oOo~

_Families Flee!_

_By Titus Lee_

_Pureblood families have continued to flee the country. In a shocking move, the Wentworth family left the country for America, after yesterday's attacks on the Grey family destroying every member of the once powerful family._

_Among the Wentworth's, The Li's and Patil's have fled the country along with the poor house of Weasley, who had allied themselves with the criminal Harry Potter._

_This Sudden move of minor houses is crippling our economy, one can only hope that immigration increases, or else we could be doomed._

~oOo~

Edmund Rothlilith read the newspaper twice to be sure of what he read. 'Shit', he thought, this was not good, if Harry Potter was behind bars they would have to make a new plan, perhaps his Grandfather could help.

He walked over to the fireplace and threw some floo powder into it watching it erupt into neon green flames before dunking his head into it.

"Grandfather, have you seen today's newspaper?"

"Yes, this is not good."

"Instructions"

"Get Edward to help you, I'm sure that we can bail him out."

"I don't think that would do much, the press is asking for his head on a pike and the ministry is putting all the blame for the Dark Lords return on him." "This is not good; Bones will undoubtedly rig the trial in her favour. Do everything in your power to make sure he is innocent, he is essential to our plans."

"By your command, Grandfather."

~oOo~

_The Truth about Harry Potter_

_By Xenophilieus Lovegood_

_Ladies, Gentleman, Wrackspruts and Crumple Horned Snorcacks, I bear shocking news regarding Harry Potter. Harry Potter is not actually Harry Potter; he is in fact Cubby Boardman, illegitimate son of Stubby Boardman who has been posing as Sirius Black for the last 14 years._

_The Boardman's are known terrorists and people should be wary of them, you don't know where they could be hiding. They were an essential part of the Rotfang Conspiracy (see past issue #78) and are known to harbor illegal Butterbee's _

_The Real Sirius Black and Harry Potter escaped from Voldemort's clutches years ago to a Potter owned island near the Dominican Republic_

_~oOo~_

Bones Smiled to herself as she finished another press conference. Everything was going according to plan; the trial was scheduled for next week and the public was buying everything she said.

Again she felt awful for how she war ruining their lives. They hadn't done anything to deserve it; it was just their lot in life.

She walked in strides into her office followed by a flock of reporters beckoning questions at her demanding answers.

Her office had become somewhat of a mess over the last few days; she had taken to eating and sleeping in her office, rarely venturing to Bones Manor. She would floo call her niece every day, the niece that she was severely neglecting.

It was best not to dwell on such thoughts.

There was a report on her desk, the report she had been waiting for all day, the one that would tell her if her suspicions were true; the interrogation results.

She slowly opened it and read its confidential contents.

_Daphne Jasmine Greengrass_

_Date of Birth- March 14th 1980_

_Height- 5 ft. 8_

_Eye Color- Blue_

_Physical Profile- In good shape, scarring of tissue along her back and legs_

_Psychological Profile- Possible Neglect as child, Isolated, Strong Willed, Cunning _

_Other Details- Betrothed to Harry James Potter as of Friday, July 10th 1995- Estranged from Family- Small circle of friends- _

_Sirius Orion Black _

_Date of Birth- October 23rd 1959_

_Height- 5 ft. 11_

_Eye Color- Black _

_Physical Profile- Malnourished, Many Bruises, poor shape _

_Psychological Profile- Fiercely loyal and protective of his Godson Harry Potter, Mentally unstable (?), 12 years in Azkaban_

_Other Details- Godfather of Harry James Potter, absence of Dark Mark- Recently procured the lordship of the Black Family- estranged from rest of family- _

_Harry James Potter _

_Date of Birth- July 31st 1981_

_Height- 5ft 3_

_Eye Color- Emerald Green _

_Physical Profile- Skinny Frame, Eye sight problems, absence of muscle, scarring of tissue along lower back- Possible Abuse_

_Psychological Profile- Mentally weak, Strong willed, stubborn, mental trauma that took place some time ago, Loyal_

_Other Details- Recently Betrothed to Daphne Greengrass (see Daphne Greengrass)-Small circle of friends- Estranged from Relatives- Believes Sirius Black to be innocent-_

She dropped the file on her desk and leaned back in her chair contemplating what she had just read. For all intents in proposes this file could go either way, to her though it seemed as if they were all innocent. It also seemed as though that they were all outcasts and had suffered abuse at the hands of others.

If she was too use this as evidence in her case, the defense could undoubtedly use this in support of Harry, with his belief of Sirius being innocent, it would be easy to pardon him on that charge. She was going to need a strong Prosecutor.

She prayed that she would find redemption in some fashion because what she was about to do was unforgivable.

_~oOo~_

_The Greengrass Family denies involvement with you-know-who!_

_By Samantha Ferguson _

_Earlier today this reporter sat down with Cyrus Greengrass father of the dark lady Daphne Greengrass, I am pleased to present to you our conversation._

_SF- Lord Greengrass, what is your relationship with your daughter?_

_CG- Until recently, we used to be very close, however ever since she started hanging out with that no-good Potter Boy she started to act differently. _

_SF- An informant at the ministry said something about a marriage contract, are those rumors true?_

_CG- Sadly yes, I had already betrothed her to the honorable Nott family, however Potter weaseled her out of that contract and forced me to sign her over to him._

_SF- How tragic, when did she begin to hang out with Harry Potter_

_CG- It wasn't until the last month of school; I'm convinced that he used the imperious curse on my daughter._

_SF- You're brother Isosceles Greengrass, was a convicted death eater was he not? Are you a Death Eater of a sympathizer?_

_CG- Isosceles was a tragic mistake; he hung around with the wrong crowds. Father tried to stop him but it ended up getting my dad killed, Isosceles was a madman and bowed down to a false lord._

_SF- Do you believe that your daughter will fall in the wrong crowd as well?_

_CG- Sadly she already has, it wouldn't surprise me if she had already taken the mark._

_SF- Thank you for your time._

_CG- It was a pleasure._

_As you can clearly see, Harry Potter has turned an innocent child into a mad person like Bellatrix Lestrange. It is tragic when things like this happened; I hope that Harry Potter gets the justice he deserves._

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Hermione cried into Neville's shoulder, it had been a long week. Harry had been arrested and they both knew he was innocent. Neville's Grandmother had tried to access Harry, Daphne and Sirius but had been flat out denied.

The three of them were currently having dinner at Longbottom hall. It was the first time all week that Augusta had been home for dinner, the Ministry was in uproar and the press was hounding every member of the Wizengamot, asking for interviews.

Over the last few weeks, Hermione had grown closer to Augusta, on the outside she was quite fierce but on the inside she really did care for Neville.

"Their interrogation finished today."

"It did?"

"Yes, Bones has decided to keep it close to her chest though. She has disclosed it as confidential information."

"Does that mean you'll be able to go meet with them."

"No, they are only allowing the defence to see them; apparently they appointed Griselda Marchbanks."

"Marchbanks, but she has nothing to do with law! She's the O.W.L and N.E.W.T administer, not a lawyer."

"They still appointed her; besides, she's the longest serving member of the Wizengamot currently so she knows a thing or two about the law."

"Is there any chance you can get us into see him?"

"I'll try to convince Griselda to relay a message, but I can't make any promises."

"As long as you ask him."

_~oOo~_

_GRISELDA MARCHBANKS DECLARED DEFENSE FOR HARRY POTTER, DAPHNE GREENGRASS AND SIRIUS BLACK!_

_As the interrogation for the accused ended the Ministry appointed the O.W.L and N.E.W.T administer to the position of defence attorney for Harry Potter, Daphne Greengrass and Sirius Black._

_Many are wondering what pre-empted the decision to make her their lawyer. The ministry released a statement telling us that as one of the most non-biased and most qualified people to serve them she was chosen. _

_Griselda MarchbanksCDMG, APMO, fdBB is over 125 years old now and many wonder about her mentality, she did administer the O.W.L and N.E.W.T tests to Dumbledore and not many people can even remember when that was. She has served on the Wizengamot for the last 65 years, and Governor of the Wizarding Examination Authority longer than anyone can remember._

_Is the Ministry purposefully destroying Harry Potter's chances at surviving? It would seem so._

~oOo~

Amelia walked into the head of the DMLE'S on the fourth floor of the ministry.

"Rufus, we need to talk."

"Yes Amy?"

"I need you to be the Prosecution for the Ministry in the upcoming trial of Harry Potter." Amelia said quickly.

"Are you sure?"

"You are the only one I would trust with this."

~oOo~

_Head of DMLE is appointed Prosecution in Potter trial_

_By Evangeline Dreadlock_

_Earlier today a ministry spokeswoman told the prophet that Rufus Scrimdgeur, head of the DMLE is going to head the Prosecution on the Black/Potter/Greengrass trial_

_Scrimdgeur is quite an accomplished lawyer, after becoming head auror he took part in many trials and is responsible for putting many people behind bars; He was rumored to be Bartimus Crouch Sr.'s prodigy before his fall from power._

_The defendants' odds are getting slimmer by the day._

~oOo~

The public was tense with their anticipation of the trial of Sirius Black, Harry Potter, and Daphne Greengrass vs. the Magical Empire of Britannia. The public opinion mostly thought that they were guilty but a select few knew better than to trust the media.

Among those select few was their appointed defense lawyer Griselda Marchbanks.

Griselda had just been informed of her job and was gathering the papers she needed before going down to the ministry holding cell.

Why they had chosen her was beyond most people, but she knew the exact reason. Most of the Ministry thought she was a senile old bat and would mess up the case somehow.

She served as an elder on the Wizengamot for the last 65 years; the Marchbanks family had been largely matriarchal over the last 200 years, though it had existed for almost 1000 years. She was also the governor on Wizarding Examination's Authority, She also knew every student that had ever gone through Hogwarts since 1890.

However despite her abnormally large age, she was not senile, she was determined to prove herself as something more than a senile old bat who just dealt out exams to kids.

She had taken law back during her school days and knew the system inside out. She had read the ministry charter over 30 times and was well prepared. She had seen more in her long lifetime than anybody could ever imagine.

She was going to prove to everyone that Griselda Marchbanks still could fight, the press be damned.

She entered the lift that would take her down to the lower levels of the ministry where the prisoners were held.

Bones seemed to have lost it ever since she had become minister. It was a shame how much a decent person was crushed under a heavy workload, not good for a long life.

The lift pulled to a sudden stop and the grated metal doors opened with a creek into the dark barren cell row.

"State your business." the bored prison guard asked monotonously.

"Griselda Marchbanks, Defense Attorney for Harry Potter, Daphne Greengrass and Sirius Black."

He looked her over and gave a sharp nod before escorting her to the cell that held the three of them. Normally they would each get a different cell, but the cells were packed due to the war, so they had to share.

The guard gave her a pitiful look before throwing open the door to their cell pushing her in and slamming the door behind her.

The cell was small, but not too small, about 7ft by 7ft. benches lined the walls and the only natural light that decorated the room was through a small frosted glass window on the door.

Though it had been less than a week since their arrest, her clients looked worse for wear; their clothes were torn and they were all giving threating glares to her.

The girl who she assumed to be Daphne Greengrass was leaned into the chest of Harry Potter and Sirius Black was in a guarding position of them.

"Hello, I am Griselda Marchbanks your defense Attorney."

"We know." Snapped Daphne Greengrass

"Look here missy, I am trying to help you here, you probably haven't received any word from the outside world but I have. The media has turned you into a laughing stock, me too apparently. Bones is basking in glory and is doing everything in her power to get you killed, so if I were you I would shut up and listen to me!"

"Good Ole Marchbanks, tough as a nail." Barked out Sirius.

"It is good to see that you have regained you're idiotic sense of humor Mr. Black."

"No need to be mean." He said.

"First of all, I should tell you what you are being charged with, you are all being charged with Treason; Daphne and Harry are being charged with Harbouring a known Convict. Sirius and Harry also being charged with Murder, Sirius with manslaughter, Harry is also being charged with necromancy. The Treason charge covers, suspected illicit activities, and joining an illegal group."

"Now I should be able to get rid of Harbouring a Fugitive charge since Sirius was never convicted, however the Mass Murder and Treason could be harder."

"Daphne, Should be easy to get off since all of the evidence is extremely circumstantial and mostly speculation, much like Sirius."

"Though the evidence for Harry is also purely speculation, there is no way to counteract their statements without a proper witness, and unless you can procure the Dark Lord we will have a hard time convincing the Wizengamot."

"So, why don't we start with your side of the story?"

~oOo~

_Griselda Marchbanks holds a not- so secret meeting with Millicent Bagnold!_

_By Rita Skeeter._

_Earlier today Griselda Marchbanks, Harry Potter's lawyer attended a luncheon attended a not secret meeting with Former Minister Millicent Bagnold, Headmaster Dumbledore and Wizengamot elder Augusta Longbottom, widow of the famed Herbert Longbottom (1904-1979)_

_Griselda Marchbanks is widely respected for her achievements and good fortune in life, longest serving member of the Wizengamot, longest serving Governor of Examinations and one of the oldest living people at the age of 125 (born) 1871_

_However due to her age many people suspect her of senility and slowly degrading health. She only serves on the Wizarding Examination Authority out of respect says an insider._

_During her meeting, much was discussed, among things were the trial and how she was planning to overthrow the ministry and commit the highest of treasons._

_It is sad to see how far from grace all of these elders have fallen. The widely respected are unbecoming these days in respect to the Ministry._

_One has to wonder who still lets them have such influential positions._

~oOo~

Narcissa Malfoy, nee Black was running; just running. She had no idea where she was running to, but she needed to get away from Malfoy Manor. The Dark Lord had moved in and that crossed the line for her. She packed up everything she owned and ran; the wards would detect any use of magic.

She was done with Lucius, she was done with her brat of a child, and she was done with the Dark Lord. She had enough! She was turning her back on that life and leaving Lucius Malfoy.

She had nowhere to go. Perhaps Cassiopeia would take her in, they had always been close. No, she didn't even know if Cassiopeia was still alive. Andromeda… No, they hadn't talked in years and Andy would never accept her after all she had done.

She kept on running and thinking, maybe Grimmauld Place would be available. If Sirius had been captured than it still would be available, her parent's manor had been used as a Death Eater safe house during the war and had been thoroughly ravaged.

It seemed like Grimmauld Place would be her best choice.

She apparated with a pop and found herself on the doorstep of #12 Grimmauld Place. Her Black blood gave her access to the Property. She pushed the door ever slowly and entered the stately manor house.

"Cissy, what are you doing here?"

"I've run away aunt Walburga."

"Run, away from what?"

"I'm tired of serving the Dark Lord and Lucius, I ran away."

"Just like Sirius, go and break my heart Cissy, the Dark Lord will preserve our way of life, he is our true saviour."

"You and Orion would have destroyed our House, It was a good thing that Arcturus out lived both of you and was able to keep you away from the fortune. Since when do Black's bow down to anyone, Blacks are strong and Noble have you forgotten that?"

"Be that as it may… You forget…" Walburga stuttered not being able to form a proper comeback, stumped.

Narcissa heard a plate fall in the kitchen and shatter. She went into the kitchen hoping to find a frail old Kreacher for her to tell off, but instead she was treated to the sight of one of Sirius's friends, he had mousy brown hair and a thin frame, his clothes were shabby and his face was lined with scars, but surprisingly cute with his small smile and brown eyes. James Potter and Peter Pettigrew were dead so that left.

"Remus Lupin."

"Narcissa Malfoy, what are you doing here?" He said raising his wand.

"Relax Lupin, I'm not going to hurt you, in fact I just ran away from Lucius and the Dark Lord, looking for refuge you might say."

"Fine, but I'm not going to trust you completely."

"I wouldn't expect you too."

"What exactly are you doing here Lupin?"

"Sirius let me stay here… That is until he got captured." Lupin started to cry.

"Now they got him and Harry, I swore that I would protect them and I didn't. Do you know about anything else?"

"No, Lucius was bragging about putting the Potter boy behind bars and getting Draco his title once and for all."

"Okay. Was... Was everything that you said to the old hag in the foyer true?"

"Yes."

"I never thought that you would ever feel that way Narcissa. You know, back before the war, Sirius would always rattle on about how you, Bellatrix and Andromeda were like Sisters to him. But the war….."

"Yes and we all did things that we regret. Andy took a stand. Bella used to be very kind and caring, but the war it changed her. She was forced to do things she didn't want to after she was peer pressured into being a Death Eater, and Azkaban couldn't have helped, if there was anything left of Bellatrix Black, it's gone now."

"I never realized how close you guys had been."

"We were quite close, Siri and Reggie and even Jamie would come over almost every day when we were kids. Of course back than we were all shrouded by our wealth and had no care for the world. When we went to Hogwarts and James and Sirius were sorted into Gryffindor, things started to fall apart, we rarely talked and by the end of fifth year things had gone to hell. Walburga got angry with Sirius for running away and burned him off the tree, a couple of weeks later uncle Alphard gave him some gold which resulted in him getting burned off the tree as well, and only a few days later Andy left to be with Ted Tonks. I can still remember Andy explaining why she had to do it to me and Bella, there was a lot of crying that night. But all of that was eclipsed at the end of the next summer when Aunt Dorea allowed James to marry Lily Evans, that was really the end of the Black Family" She took a deep breath and wiped the tears off her face before continuing.

"At the end of sixth year when James asked Lily to marry him and Dorea had allowed it to happen the rest of the family was furious and began to take sides. I still remember the family meeting that night so long ago when Dorea refused to burn her son off the family tree, Walburga, Orion, Cygnus and mother were combatting with Pollux, Cassiopeia and Dorea, Arcturus and Melena just watched, by that point Arcturus had given headship of the family to Orion so that all he had to deal with was the estate."

"Eventually Walburga took her wand and singed Dorea off the tree telling her that she didn't want to ever see her muggle loving aunt ever again, Pollux and Cassiopeia were horrified at what Walburga had done and Cassiopeia threatened to kill her. Orion told Dorea to leave and eventually Cassiopeia and Pollux left with Dorea to Console her, she had been burned off the tree and banished from the family. After that Pollux and Cassiopeia refused to speak with them, didn't attend any of my Parents and Uncles and Aunts funerals. Dorea ended up dying banished, it wasn't until after Orion died and she had died that Arcturus reinstated her."

"James's mother was banished from the family, no wonder she had seemed so jovial at the wedding, she even gave Lily a priceless goblin tiara to wear."

"I think she was truly happy for James, her true family, that he wasn't maimed by the issue of blood purity and war. After Charlus was killed, she slowly lost the will to live; Cassiopeia and Pollux were there every day until she died of Dragon Pox."

"That's tragic, I never knew."

"The Black Family was built on treachery, in a house of lies, it's unfortunately normal."

_~oOo~_

_GRISELDA MARCHBANKS ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT!_

_By Lillian Firth_

_It is my sad duty to say to you all that Madam Marchbanks was almost murdered today in Diagon Alley._

_Earlier in the day Madam Marchbanks, Defense Attorney in the Potter/Black/Greengrass trial was shopping in Diagon alley as we all do and was targeted. The suspect, Arnold Jameson threw a killing curse at her, yelled some vile insults at her before apparating away escaping capture._

_It is a sad day when the world comes to trying to murder people in the streets based on what they do for a living, it is in my opinion that just because Madam Marchbanks is defending people who have committed such horrible acts does not mean that she has committed them herself._

_~oOo~_

"Get up prisoners!" the guards shouted at Sirius Black, Daphne Greengrass and Harry Potter.

He entered their small room and cuffed them with magical suppressing handcuffs before leading them single file up to the courtrooms with their lawyer.

Over the last week Griselda had spent over 5 hours a day with them trying to get information for their case. One of the things she had noticed was how close the three of them had grown together. She got the impression that if one of them was going down, they would go down together.

They were given clean clothes and a makeover so as not to look so bad for the trial.

She led them threw the hall and into the packed courtroom two of the Wizengamot.

Saying that the courtroom was packed would be an understatement. The Room was filled to the brim, it was about to explode she thought. There was a bench in the middle of the room for her and her clients that was already subject to hundreds of camera flashes.

This trial was turning into a Media Frenzy that they would juice until it was completely and utterly dry. She sat down with her solemn clients, at the bench designated Defense to one side of the room.

Albus Dumbledore walked into the room and sat down in his seat as Chief Warlock beside the Minister for Magic.

"All rise for the honorable Albus Dumbledore."

"Please be seated." Dumbledore Declared

"Over the next week we will hear testimony from many different people and get to the bottom of this case, Ministry of Magic vs. Harry James Potter, Sirius Orion Black and Daphne Jasmine Greengrass."

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

-Hope y'all liked this chapter.

-I was not impressed by some of the comments I got, I mean someone said that by waiting to 65 comments, I was whoring my story. I just want to hear input, I don't want to feel like I am writing this story to myself, I want people to like it. Someone else said they disliked the way Harry and Daphne felt about the Weasleys and her family, respectively. The Weasleys were Harry's first "true friends", no matter how backstabbing they were, Harry never realized it and part of him still feels bad for their family, he never knew that they were manipulating him. No matter how much Daphne hated her family, she still feels a connection to them. They raised her and provided her a beautiful manor that became her home, it's always hard to leave home forever no matter the circumstances. People also said Sirius was very Naïve for going with Harry, and Harry was very Naïve for letting him go; yes that was the point, Harry is still fourteen years old and Sirius though forced to grow up, does not want to lose sight of his godson and jumps a lot before thinking.

-Concerning Daphne's abuse, I do not want to dwell on that much and some people have said that my story was good up until that point. But there is a saying that I think applies to her situation, what doesn't kill her makes her stronger. Daphne's father will serve justice during the trial.

-The full trial will be in the next part and will include a lot of dialogue, time skips and lack of perspective. It will be quite lengthy for a few reasons. Number 1, I disapprove of authors just using Veratersurum and a few quick questions later Sirius is released, If that were the case Sirius would have been freed years ago and the entire Wizengamot Body would be unnecessary during trials. My trial will be much like the muggle version, though I am not very well versed in it and mostly looked things up on Google. Also I am an evil author and like to cause suspense so what kind of suspense is involved when you already know the defendants innocent and they are using Veratersurum.

-The next chapter does involve a major cliff-hanger which results in the end of part 1 of the story. The next part will not be a new story, just a symbol that the book is moving on a different path than it had begun with. Not many things will have conclusions at the end of the next chapter though. Also the next Part will be moving more into open warfare and a lot more of Voldemort on the battlefield and the Rothlilith's in the political arena

-As always thank you to my wonderful beta Anka7995 who corrects all of my grievous grammar mistakes.

-Don't forget to Review! Always love to hear your thoughts!


	8. The Truth Will Out, Part 3

The Trial, Part Three

**Warning: Some mature themes and content, Trial may be dull in some parts, you can skip through it, only have to read the end of it. Implications of Physical Abuse are contained in this chapter. A lot of Dialogue during the Trial, like I said before feel free to skip through it.**

~oOo~

"My clients have committed no crimes; all of the so called evidence is Circumstantial and bluntly offensive to my clients." Griselda strode back to her seat on the Defence bench after finishing her opening statements. She sat beside Harry who was comforting a sobbing Daphne.

She had already been successful in making the Wizengamot dropping the charge for harbouring a convicted criminal.

Up in the gallery sat the Davis family and Neville and Hermione. They saw their friends for the first time in almost three weeks and while it looked like Harry and Daphne had grown much closer, it was not under the proper circumstances.

"Will the Prosecution deliver their opening statements?"

"With Pleasure..." Rufus Scrimdgeur drawled.

"Over the next few days, you will see and hear that Harry Potter, Daphne Greengrass and Sirius Black are in all someway responsible for the return of the Dark Lord. Sirius Black, somehow escaped trial ten years ago under Millicent Bagnold, but he will be tried and convicted."

"Harry Potter and Daphne Greengrass have willingly hidden Sirius Black for god knows how long and have pledged allegiance to the Dark Lord."

"This is unacceptable, and we must put an end to this…."

~oOo~

"We would like to call, Hermione Granger to Testify." Said Griselda Marchbanks

Hermione walked out from her seat at the back of the courtroom and down into the middle of the room where an ornately built chair sat ready for its occupant.

"Hermione Granger, do you swear that the evidence that you shall give, shall be the truth, thewhole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me Merlin?"

"I do." Hermione swore.

"Hermione Granger, you have been a friend of Harry Potter's for a long time, four years?"Griselda asked.

"Yes, he was my first real friend."

"And in this time, did you notice anything erratic about his behaviour, specifically in the last few months?"

"No, not really I mean the return of Voldemort hit him pretty hard, and the betrayal of his supposed best friend Ronald Weasley hit wasn't pleasant."

"Do you think that this could have driven him over the edge?"

"No, he handles well under stress."

"When did he meet Ms. Greengrass?"

"To my knowledge he found her crying and consoled her. I think he was quickly enamoured by her, just as she was of him, to my knowledge."

"And did you suspect anything of Ms. Greengrass?"

"I've only talked to her a few times, but during those times I haven't noticed anything strange about her, she seemed genuine."

"No more questions."

~oOo~

"Ms. Granger, where were you on the night of the third task of the Triwizard Tournament?" Rufus Scrimdgeur asked.

"I was sitting in the stands watching the events unfold."

"What events?"

"The Third Task, the Maze."

"And what did you see towards the end."

"I saw Harry and Cedric grasp the triwizard cup and vanish."

"Did Mr. Potter and Mr. Diggory ever return?"

"Yes, well Harry did."

"And what happened to Mr. Diggory?"

"To my knowledge he was murdered and his body left behind."

"And why do you think that?"

"Because it only seems logical, Harry would not kill a friend and I trust Harry."

"But you have no evidence, were you there when Cedric Diggory was presumably murdered by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?"

"No."

"Interesting…" He said before turning to face the jury to evaluate their reaction.

"Ms. Granger, have you ever met Sirius Orion Black the third, before?"

"Emphasize met."

"Interacted with him?"

"Yes."

A shocked gasp rang out through the courtroom and Griselda did a mental face palm, if this continued she would have to add another Client to her already long list.

"When was this?"

"The end of third year."

"Could you please describe you're interaction."

"Well Sirius stole Ronald's rat, Harry and I followed him to the shrieking shack and when we got their Sirius transformed the Rat back into Peter Pettigrew. Harry who had been prepared to kill Sirius decided to focus his efforts on the Rat who had actually killed his parents."

"Peter Pettigrew, Peter Pettigrew was murdered thirteen years ago."

"I saw him transform into a human before my eyes last year."

"Have you ever seen a picture of Peter Pettigrew before?"

"No, but-"

"So you believe that you saw Peter Pettigrew?"

"Yes and-"

"No more questions."

~oOo~

Lucius Malfoy sneered at the crowd and walked up to the witness chair and was sworn in with a haughty look.

"Lord Malfoy, you were a Death Eater, were you not?" Inquired Griselda

"The circumstances were very different."

"Yes but you did go to meetings under the Imperious curse."

"Yes."

"At any of these meetings did you see Sirius Black?"

"Yes."

"Did you ever hear about Sirius Black being a death eater?"

"Yes."

"We have source's that you attended a meeting of the Dark Lords rebirth, did you attend such a meeting?"

"No absolutely not."

"Has a death eater approach you in the last year?"

"No."

"No more questions….." She said in a distant voice, something seemed off about Lucius.

She sat back down in her seat and watched as the prosecution commended Lucius Malfoy and gave him rhetorical questions; jury was being swayed each moment.

Something definitely seemed off about Lucius Malfoy, he should not be this confident and every now and then he would say something that she knew not to be true, even while he was under magical oath.

"Wait, I would like to ask one more question."

"Chief Warlock, this is highly irregular." Scrimdgeur complained. "I will allow it."

"Lucius Abraxas Malfoy, are you currently under the influence of any illegal potions?"

"Yes." He grumbled, by this point the potion that made everything he said lies had worn off; they were designed to last only 15 minutes. The potions were designed to contradict everything the user said so that the user could lie under a magical oath. Scrimdgeur pounded his hands on his desk and Marchbanks face turned into a wide smirk.

"No More Questions."

~oOo~

Dumbledore called for a 24 hour recess and soon after that Griselda and her clients found themselves back in their cell.

"Well that went well."

"Hopefully today has been in our favour, with his lying who knows what could be the truth."

"Do you have any other planned witnesses?"

"Well it is a shame that Pettigrew could not be located."

"It seems that the main point we need to focus on, to get rid of most of the charges is too proving Sirius's innocence. Once that has been managed, then we can focus on the murder of Cedric Diggory; however that shouldn't be too hard after."

"That's all good."

"Yes Mr. Potter, the prosecution will try and discount our witness's, like we did to Lucius Malfoy. They will also try and focus on your mental stability; they will use Daphne's family as leverage against her."

"Well discounting their testimony should be easy right Daph?"

"Not really, even after all I've been through with them, there still high ranking citizens."

"What if I put you on the witness stand?"

"No, not yet at least."

"Couldn't we just use Verateserum and finish this trial." Harry complained.

"Afraid not, not only are you a minor, but Verateserum was banned during trials fifty years ago due to some unpleasant side effects and then there is the fact that some people are highly resistant to it. "

"Like?"

"In some cases, the drinker lost the ability to lie. Others would rant off on a tangent about something so it was decided to ban them."

"That's a shame."

"Quite."

~oOo~

The Davies's and the Longbottom's and Hermione decided to have a joint dinner meeting to discuss the trial at the Golden Truffle.

"It looked as if Harry and Daphne had become quite close." Commented Tracey

"Well, that's what happens when you're confined to a small space for 2 weeks."

"I certainly hope that they will be found innocent."

"It may be possible, at the current time the Wizengamot is very much divided down the middle." Explained Augusta

"My prayers will be with them." Said Hermione

"As will be mine."

~oOo~

"The Prosecution would like to call Cyrus Greengrass to Testify."

Cyrus stood up like a pompous buffoon from his seat in the Wizengamot and swaggered down to the chair for the witness. He was quickly sworn in and readily answered Scrimdgeur's questions.

"Lord Greengrass are you a death eater sympathizer?"

"No."

"Lord Greengrass, has you're daughter ever expressed interest in becoming a Death Eater?"

"Not directly, however she has been dropping subtle hints for the last few months."

"Examples?"

"Well she became very defensive and angry at the slightest thing."

"When did she meet Harry James Potter?"

"I didn't know they were aquatinted until she came home ordering us to sign a new marriage contract with him." "Did you raise your daughter on you-know-who's beliefs?"

"No."

"When do you suspect she began to change?"

"Before she left for Hogwarts she was a sweet and kind little girl, but when she came back for Christmas, She was as cold as ice. She isolated herself and I would think began plotting her takeover of the world."

"What do you think happened to her?"

"I suspect that her mind was slowly twisted by Harry Potter."

"Do you think it's possible that she has done everything she is accused of?"

"Yes."

~oOo~

"Lord Greengrass, what is your current standing on blood purity?"

"It is balanced, one needs to preserve the old lines, but inbreeding is no good, we need fresh blood every now and then."

"Lord Greengrass, When exactly did your daughter go down her so called path of darkness?" "Just before she left for first year."

"How old was she then?"

"10 years old."

"Have there ever been problems at home?"

"She stormed out a few weeks ago on us."

"Any idea why?"

"She became very frustrated with us and our lack of respect for her and her new values."

"Did you every touch her inappropriately Lord Greengrass?"

"What kind of question is that?"

"OBJECTION, this is irrelevant to the trial."

"Is there any point to this line of questions?"

"Yes Chief warlock, it is vital to the case."

"Very well I will see how this goes." "Lord Greengrass did you ever rape and beat your daughter?"

"…Yes…"

~oOo~

The Wizengamot had been furious at the last comment. Raping and Beating of a pureblood was a huge faux pas in wizarding society and Cyrus Greengrass was taken into custody to await his own trial. Many were asking for the veil and others wanted to hang him from the roof of Gringotts. Many of the Members of the Wizengamot know thought that in his own way, Cyrus Greengrass was ultimately responsible for the way Daphne had turned out.

Daphne was quite overwhelmed that her father's raping of her had gotten out into the public and had spent the better part of last night in Harry's arms.

"I'm sorry about this Daphne."

"It's okay Griselda, you did what was best."

"I'm still very sorry."

"I was thinking, maybe I could take the stand next?"

"I do not think it's all too necessary seeing as the bulk of your charges depend on whether Sirius is innocent. So my main focus will be building a solid story before putting you guys in the chair."

~oOo~

Bones and Scrimdgeur were having a heated discussion about the trial. Bones was not quite satisfied with Scrimdgeur selection of witness and Scrimdgeur was displeased with Bones for interfering so much.

"I do not care! Find some new witnesses! You brought Cyrus Greengrass of all people to provide testimony! The most biased person in the bloody trial!"

"But my tactic of discrediting the witness is working perfectly!"

"Really? Because it seems that the Defence is doing a much better job."

"Well, who do you suggest I bring in?"

"Not bring in, present documents from their interrogation, information is vital to winning. Griselda will try and provide information with People; you must do it with papers!"

~oOo~

"The Prosecution would like to take the time to provide some documents concerning, the Rebirth of the Dark Lord and the interrogation of the defendants."

"The Documents clearly state that the magical trace of Harry Potter and Sirius Black were both found at the scene where the Dark Lord returned." "It goes further to say that blood of Harry Potter was found on a knife that was used in the ritual."

"The interrogation documents say that Sirius Black is quite possibly, mentally deranged and is fiercely loyal to his master, it also states that Harry Potter is also fiercely loyal to his master. One thing in common found on the document is that Daphne Greengrass and Harry Potter have both suffered abuse at young ages, Perhaps turning them dark and sending them into the waiting hands of the Dark Lord."

~oOo~

"Rubeus Hagrid, where were you on the night of October 31st?"Started Griselda

"I went by to Lily and James house after hearing about their deaths. Dumbledore told me to bring little Harry to his relatives."

"Did you encounter Sirius Black their?" "Yes, he was sobbing over the dead Bodies of Lily and James, he had Harry in his arms and I had to pry the baby out of his arms." "Did he seem deranged to you?" "No, just sad and bitter towards Pettigrew, he kept muttering things about killing him."

"Do you think he was a spy for Voldemort?"

"No." He said slowly in his gruff voice.

"No more questions."

~oOo~

"Severus Snape, were you present the night when Harry Potter met Sirius Black for the first time in 13 years?"

"Yes."

"Did you see Peter Pettigrew?"

"Sadly, yes."

"Was he alive?"

"Yes."

"Did he take the shape of a rat missing a toe at any point?"

"Yes."

"Did his friends perform illegal transformations as well?" "Yes, I caught James Potter and his merry band of misfits once in the act."

"You were a convicted Death Eater?"

"Yes, but I was cleared, it is a well-known fact that I was a spy."

"Yes, but you did attend meetings with Lucius Malfoy. Did you ever encounter Sirius Black?"

"No."

"Did you ever hear about Sirius Black being a Death Eater?"

"No."

"Do you believe that Sirius Black is innocent?"

"….Yes, I am forced to admit with the amount of evidence that I have seen and the holes in the story that Sirius Black, must be innocent in the Crimes of Killing the Potters and Peter Pettigrew and innocent in serving the Dark Lord. I don't see how such a dunderhead who was in fact banished from his dark family could be a death eater." "No more questions."

~oOo~

"Severus Snape, When did you join the illegal group known as the Death Eaters?" Asked Scrimdgeur

"1977"

"Did you join willingly?"

"Objection!"

"On what Grounds, Ms. Marchbanks?"

"This line of questions is irrelevant to the case; Severus Snape is not on trial here."

"Unless the Prosecution can come up with a valid reason for their Questions, I would have to concur with the Defense."

"No more questions." Huffed Scrimdgeur, his plans of discrediting Snape as a witness gone.

Bones was giving him the death glare; she had already told him that using his normal tactics would not work.

After that last testimony it might be very hard to prove Sirius Black and by extension Daphne Greengrass and Harry Potter guilty. If he was going to win the case he would have to find some hard-core evidence.

~oOo~

It had been almost a week since the trial had started and things were moving along slowly, but still progressing.

She had presented information from many different witnesses proving their innocence; she had many of Harry's teachers testify about his abilities and whether or not he was capable of the darkest forms of Necromancy.

Things were starting to look better for the defendants, Not Great mind you; the public was still on shaky ground. However the press had stopped printing their slander.

Griselda was pleased with her work but she would need a little more evidence before putting her clients on the stands. Nothing on paper would work in her favour at the moment.

She glanced over at her sleeping clients. This trial had certainly been draining on them and the fact that they remained positive throughout the entire ordeal was an inspiration.

Harry and Daphne had become extremely protective of each other and Sirius was very protective of the two of them.

She needed to save them.

She thought back on their story, which would be able to help establish her story about Sirius's innocence.

It was a shame that she that the Weasleys had left the country. Wait… There was one that remained, the one that had found the rat, Percival. He was reportedly estranged from his family and had been enticed by the ministry and was an intern for Crouch currently. He might be able to shed some light on the rat.

~oOo~

"Percival Weasley, You had a rat at one point named Scabbers, did you not?"

"Correct." Percy replied promptly.

"Was he missing a toe?"

"Yes."

"All that they supposedly found of Peter Pettigrew was a finger."

"Yes." He said slowly.

"When exactly did you receive this rat?"

"In our backyard in November of 1981, I was quite young at the time still; he was limping a great deal and looked worn out. I decided to save it and keep it as a pet."

"A few days after the attack that killed Lily Potter, James Potter and resulted in the first defeat of the Dark Lord, Limping from cutting his finger off and tired for the amount of strength he had used to save himself. Mr. Weasley, how long did the rat live?"

"I passed him off to Ronald in my fifth year at Hogwarts; Ronald said that the Rat disappeared at the end of his third year in 1994."

"13 years, that is abnormally large for a common rat? Tell me Percy do you know the average lifespan of a Rat?"

"2 years."

"And the longest recorded life of a rat?" "4 years."

"Based on these facts, theoretically, could this rat, be more than a simple rat. An animagus... perhaps?"

"It is Possible."

"No more questions."

~oOo~

"Percival Weasley, Did you ever see, 'Scabbers' turn into a human being?" Inquired Rufus.

"No."

"Did this rat ever exhibit any abnormal behaviour aside from having an exceptionally long-life?"

"No."

"Is it possible that magic could have expanded the life of Scabbers?" "Possibly, though improbable, Rats do not react well to magic, I tried it once."

"Do you suspect that 'Scabbers' was an animagus?"

"Not really."

"How long did you have the rat to yourself?"

"Ten years."

"No more questions."

~oOo~

Bagnold sat upon her chair with a gleam in her eyes. Things were going very well and the outcome was looking better and their chances were getting much better as the trial went on as public opinion started to improve.

Dumbledore sat from his throne looking down upon the trial, bored. He knew how this was going to end, the public wouldn't let Harry Potter die, nor would the Death Eater faction let Ms. Greengrass. Sirius was on hazy terms, but with the right amount of pushing he could get off on a light sentence.

Hermione Granger's head rested in her boyfriend's lap. The trial went on for about 6 hours a day and had been going on for almost a week now…. And she showed up every day for the full six hours. She was stressing out over the fact that her best friend might be put to death and was going to stick it out for him, especially after her testimony which might have done more harm than good.

Tracy Davis had tears brimming at her eyes as she watched Daphne. It seemed that she had been able to find a brief glimpse of happiness before being arrested and put on trial. She resented Harry Potter for all he had done to her, she was just getting back to a better place before he had to go screw everything up and drag Daphne into this mess.

Draco Malfoy with his Girlfriend Pansy Parkinson watched the trial with glee. His dreams of Potter and Black dead were becoming realizations. He would finally inherit the Black Family titles and assets and be of a great enough standing to be in the dark lords Innercircle. His mother running away didn't bother him, she was just a tool. Justice would be served against her when she was found, no one escaped the Dark Lord, nor did they live to defy him.

Amelia Bones watched with extreme concentration as Daphne Greengrass stepped up to the chair and was sworn in. The next three witnesses were scheduled to be the defendants. The next 24 hours would decide the outcome of the overwhelming trial.

~oOo~

"Daphne Jasmine Greengrass, you are being charged with, Treason and suspected illicit activities. Do you believe that you are guilty?"

"No."

"Good, because it would be a darn shame for me if you did." Muttered Marchbanks which elicited a small bought of laughter from the courtroom.

"Ms. Greengrass, do you sympathize with the Death Eaters."

"No, though masquerading in Slytherin House will become much harder after this."

"Why was there a marriage contract created between you and Mr. Potter?" "It was a way to get away from the pre-existing one. If I ended up with the Theodore Nott then I would have been stuck with death eaters forever. Harry Potter was of a much higher status as heir to Both Davenport and Potter families. As he was also a kind, caring person, he was suitable to rescue me."

"What are your feelings to Mr. Potter?"

"At first, they were neutral. But as time has grown on and I have spent the last two and a half a weeks with him, I have started to realize that feelings our developing between us."

"Feelings of a romantic nature?"

"Yes."

"Did you encounter Sirius Black prior to your meeting with Minister Bones?" "Yes, though only about an hour before. He was at Gringotts to sign the contract on Harry's behalf since he was not yet emancipated. I was initially wary of him, but like Harry I have grown to like him."

"Why is that?"

"I think that deep down we all share the same pains, we are all estranged from our Dark Families, or in Harry's case abusive relatives and are all outcasts in society, were able to connect very easily."

"No more questions."

~oOo~

The Prosecution decided not to cross examine. Rufus was too busy preparing his cross examinations for Harry Potter and Sirius Black, whose testimonies were much more important than that of Daphne Greengrass.

The eagerly anticipated moment of Harry giving his testimony descended rapidly upon them as Daphne left the chair and Harry took her place.

~oOo~

"Harry James Potter, You are accused of Treason, Murder and Necromancy; Do you believe yourself to be guilty of those crimes?"

"No."

"Let's start with the Treason charge, could you lift up your right sleeve."

Harry complied with Griselda's request and rolled up his sleeve to show off the pale white skin underneath.

"As we can all see there is an absence of the Dark Mark, which is forever branded on every Death Eater? Just to be clear, Mr. Potter, are you under any charms besides your magical oath?"

"No."

"Mr. Potter what are your thoughts on Lord Voldemort?"

"I think he is a psychopathic bastard who has no real claims to his background. His mother was a squib who used potions to force a muggle into procreating with her. He comes of no noble background; the Gaunt's were a poor and disgraced house. Above all he doesn't share power and just wants to wreak havoc."

"Are you a part of the illegal group known as the Death Eaters?"

"No."

"Have you ever murdered someone before?"

"Yes, though I wouldn't consider killing the Dark Lord murder, in fact it might just be a favor."

At this point many Wizengamot members, namely Lucius Malfoy, were fuming at what Potter was saying of their lord. He was demeaning all of their hard earned progress and even some audience members were eating his words up, whispering things like they had known all along that Potter was innocent. Though, many remained sceptical.

"Mr. Potter, did you murder Cedric Diggory?"

"No."

"What happened on the night of his death?" "We decided to win the tournament together so we held the trophy together. However the Trophy turned out to be a portkey and took us to where Voldemort was to be resurrected. Peter Pettigrew killed Cedric."

"Did you participate in the Dark Lords resurrection?"

"Yes, but unwillingly. I was bound and Peter Pettigrew took my blood to use in the ritual, something about Blood of the enemy."

"So we have established that you are not guilty of Treason or Murder. Are you capable of Necromancy?"

"No, as my teachers have already stated, most of the time I am slightly above average in my practical magic, but my theory is way below. I have no idea where to even start with Necromancy."

"No more Questions." Marchbanks finished with a smug look. Scrimdgeur was going to have a hard time digging himself out of this hole.

~oOo~

His case on Necromancy was going down the drain; his case on Treason was teetering on the edge with only circumstantial evidence. But he still could get him convicted on the last charge. He needed to win this case or else his career at the ministry might be very well over.

"Mr. Potter, you and Cedric Diggory were in a tense competition were you not?"

"Yes."

"And people have killed each other in the past before to win?"

"Yes." Harry said through Gritted teeth

"And in your mental description it reads that you are strong willed. Did you want to win the competition?"

"I guess." Harry had a sense of where this was going and didn't like it one bit.

"Would you have done anything to win."

"Not really."

"Would you have killed Cedric Diggory?"

"No."

"But you did."

"No I did not."

"Then where is the evidence."

"You forced him to come with you to his doom. His body was found dead and mauled at the scene of the crime, killed with your very wand core! Where is your proof, all of your evidence is hearsay!" Scrimdgeur had raised his voice towards the end of his small speech.

Harry had begun to shake. He had been doing his best not to think of Cedric, it would only hold him back. He couldn't feel guilt for something that wasn't his fault.

"No more questions." Scrimdgeur said after a few minutes of silence.

~oOo~

"Sirius Black, Were you the secret keeper for the Potters." Asked Griselda

"No, they had thought about it but since I was the obvious candidate they switched it to Peter so that it was more secret."

"Are you a spy for Voldemort?"

"No, there is a reason I left the Black Family."

"Did you kill Peter Pettigrew."

"No."

"Did you kill 13 muggles?"

"No."

"What happened in that alley?"

"Peter realized he was cornered by me so he cut off his finger and threw a miss aimed blasting hex at me which blew up the street, killing everyone in the vicinity."

"What was your relationship with James Potter?"

"I loved him; he was like my big brother. He and his family took me in when no one else would, he didn't care about my past of my name, and he just cared about me. We were the best of friends and it was my honor to be Harry's godfather. I would never murder him or Lily." Sirius had begun to get teary eyed at the end of his answer

"On top of being charged with Treason, which includes betrayal of the Potters, being involved with Death Eaters and the Mass Murder charge. You have been charged with suspected illicit activities, meaning using Unforgivables and things like muggle hunting. How do you feel about this?"

"I have never used an unforgiveable in my life, and muggle hunting? That's ridiculous; I was kicked out of my family because I was an apparent muggle lover and blood traitor. I was only let back in to prevent the black titles from falling into the wrong hands or some other nonsense."

"No more questions."

~oOo~

"Mr. Black, your mental profile tells me that you have spent a long time in Azkaban. The Dementors are known to mentally derange people, it's a known fact. Do you agree?"

"In most cases-"

"Now, is it possible that due to your immense guilty of killing all of your best friends and the mass murder of 13 muggles, combined with the Dementors may have driven you over the edge and in an effort to save your mind and your soul?"

"That's not what-"

"I asked you Mr. Black if it was possible."

"Yes." He spitted out.

"So it seems that any question that I may ask you could be anything that you have convinced yourself of." He said with a raised eyebrow to the jury.

"No more questions."

~oOo~

Scrimdgeur had requested a plea bargain meeting. Bones knew at this point that Daphne Greengrass would get off, Harry Potter was likely and Black's chances could go either way.

He had been authorized to do anything within in his power to stop this trial from going to a vote. If it did the results could be disastrous for the Ministry.

So he found himself in a cell with Marchbanks and her clients discussing a bargain.

"The Ministry is ready to propose a bargain. In exchange for Sirius being guilty, we will let Potter and Greengrass be found innocent."

"We will discuss your offer Rufus."

Rufus left the four of them in the little meeting room to think about his proposal. The reactions in the room were mixed. Griselda looked grim, Sirius as well, Harry looked pained and Daphne looked pale. Sirius spoke up first.

"Since I'm the one that got us into this mess, I think I should be getting you out of this."

"Sirius, there has to be some other way." Harry said.

"I agree with Sirius, this might be our best chance." Griselda responded.

"No we can't do this!"

"It's your best shot pup."

"No! We got into this together, and if we go down, we go down together." The room spun around shocked to face Daphne who was stammering

"I may have resented Harry for getting me into this mess at first, but during our captivity I have become rather fond and clingy to the both of you. We know each other more than ourselves and I'll be damned if I let Sirius go down. If he goes down they'll have to go through me first."

"Well that's two votes against, Sirius." Harry smirked playfully.

"Fine, but when we see your parents, your responsible for their anger and not me."

~oOo~

On their way back to the courtroom the next day for the final day of the trial they ran into an expectant Rufus Scrimdgeur.

"What have you decided Griselda?"

"We are going to reject your offer Rufus."

"Very well, it was an unwise decision but I won't hold it against you, I wish you and your clients well."

~oOo~

"The Prosecution calls its last witness to testify, Mr. Tony Stryver; The only muggle who can claim to be an eyewitness to Sirius Black's murder of 13 muggles and Peter Pettigrew."

~oOo~

They brought the old muggle man in and lifted some of the memory obscurement that had been placed on him before making him swear to tell the truth the muggle way.

"Mr. Stryver what can you recollect of the morning of November 1st of 1981."

"I was coming back to the House after a late night Halloween party, when I ran into a sight that caused me quite a fright. A man holding some sort of stick uttered some Latin words and the whole street blew up. I ended up calling the Authorities who I trusted to clean up the mess."

"Could you identify the man who blew up the street for me please?"

"Why, he's sitting right there." He said while pointing to Sirius Black.

~oOo~

"Mr. Stryver, what was your view of my client?"

"Well he was standing with his back to me. I could see some of his face when he turned to blow up the street. He had the same scraggly hair he does now."

"But you didn't really get a clear look?"

"No, I reckon not."

"So for all you know this picture of a completely different man, known as Regulus Black could have blown up the street."

She held up a picture of Sirius's late brother, who looked shockingly alike to Sirius, in his prime. From far away they might have looked like identical twins.

"I suppose so."

"So you can't really identify the man who blew up the streets, can you?"

"No I suppose not."

~oOo~

"Will the Prosecution please give their closing statements?"

"Over the Last few days I have delivered much information to prove that Sirius Black, Daphne Greengrass and Harry Potter are guilty of their respective crime, I have even delivered eyewitness testimony that Sirius Black committed mass-murder. Sirius Black should have had a trial thirteen years ago so that this could have been dealt with faster, but due to incompetency of past administrations it never happened." He said with a glance to a fuming Bagnold

"But we need to move forward, it is unsafe for these three to roam our streets and be members of our societies. Do you want murderers hanging around you children? Do you want the tarnished image of Harry Potter plaguing you're children's minds." "It is in our best interests for the three of them to be put in a lifetime of Azkaban, or even more fitting the veil of death. We need to show the world that being treasons to the Ministry does not go unpunished and we will decimate the threat known as the Dark Lord. I plead to you to put these criminals behind bars and away from where they can create the unspeakable horrors they do in the name of the Dark Lord."

"The Prosecution Rests."

~oOo~

"Will the Defence deliver their closing statements?"

"I will keep this short and simple, Lords and Ladies of the Wizengamot, Harry Potter, Daphne Greengrass and Sirius Black are not guilty, the only thing they are guilty of being is victims of Ministry Propaganda."

"I have delivered insurmountable evidence that Daphne Greengrass and Harry Potter have committed no crimes, every piece of so called evidence that the Prosecution has produced, is mere speculation and happenstance."

"The image of Sirius Black and by extension the Ancient and Noble House of Black has been trodden over like the Muggleborn. Sirius Black has no motive for betraying the Potters, they took him in when no one else would, when the Blacks tossed him out, and James was his only true friend. I have given you clear testimony that Peter Pettigrew still lives, what more do you need." "I plead that you actually consider my clients before throwing them in prison for a lifetime, or sentence them to death. They have committed no crimes, if anything the crime here has been by Minister Bones by making a media frenzy out of a clear misunderstanding. I lay the lives of my innocent clients in your hands; I pray that you make the right choice." "The Defence Rests."

~oOo~

"Will the Defence please rise to be sentenced?" Dumbledore addressed the Defence and their Attorney. The four of them stood together. Daphne was Clutching Harry's arm, yet she stood bold with the rest of them, ready to face whatever fate had planned for her.

"Daphne Jasmine Greengrass, on the charge of Treason, with a vote of 166-100, you have been found not guilty. On the charge of participating in illicit activities, with a vote of 250-40, you have been found not guilty."

"Harry James Potter, on the Charge of Treason, with a vote of 116-110 and a record of 176 abstentions, you have been found not guilty. On the Charge of 1st degree murder with a vote of 132-100, you have been found not guilty. On the charge of Necromancy with a vote of 215-70 you have been found not guilty. On the Charge of participating in illicit activities, with a vote of 150-136; you have been found not guilty." Read Dumbledore

"Sirius Orion Black, on the charge of Treason, with a vote of 145-140 you have been found not-guilty. On the charge of Mass-Murder, with a vote of 141-140, you have been found not guilty. On the charge of 3rd degree murder of Lily and James Potter, with a vote of 130-99, you have been found not guilty... On the charge of Necromancy, with a vote of 150-140 you have been found not guilty. For your ten year stay in Azkaban without trial, the ministry will reimburse you with a sum of 500,000 gallons a year, for twelve years that totals at 6 million galleons."

"Case Closed." Dumbledore finished with a subtle smirk as he banged his gavel.

All throughout the room people had mixed reactions. The reporters began to bombard the defendants. People were crying out things like they had known that they were innocent all along. Scrimdgeur shook hands with a gleaming Griselda Marchbanks and Minister Bones sat down in her seat defeated. Harry swept Daphne in his arms catching her by surprise and leaned in to give her one of the most passionate kisses the audience had ever seen, sitting in the back Tracy and Hermione stared in a mix of shock and jealousy while Neville was quite confused as to their expressions.

"Chief Warlock, may I speak, as we are technically still in session." Millicent Bagnold asked amidst the chaos in the grand courtroom.

"The floor is yours." said Dumbledore as people began refocusing their attention to the members of the Wizengamot. Bones started to turn as white as a ghost.

"First of all I would like to congratulate the Defendants for persevering and letting the truth present itself. Personally I feel that this has been one gross miscarriage of justice, putting on a show and making a mockery of national hero's, putting people's lives on the lines so that people could achieve their own personal goals. The Ministry has made a mockery of the entire judicial system and the innocent defendants. However I don't think the entire Ministry is to blame; in fact I think the blame rests solely at the feet of Minister Bones. She has put this show on, destroying people's lives so that she could possibly further her career, all in the name of justice. This trial has thrown into question the validity of her Administration and leadership. I do not think that she is fit to be Minister if her goals are to create scapegoats. It is with a heavy heart that I put forward a motion of no confidence."

Chaos erupted in the courtroom once more. Dumbledore tried to regain order but many Wizengamot members filed out for their short recess. Bones looked resigned, her career was over, she was done; she would go down history as one of the worst ministers of all time and one of the shortest tenures to, less than two months.

On her way out Bagnold dipped into Bones' ear.

"Check and Mate." Bagnold whispered as she strode confidently out of the courtroom before being swarmed by reporters.

~oOo~

_Sirius Black, Harry Potter and Daphne Greengrass declared innocent!_

_By Copius Letterhammer_

_When it felt like all hope was gone for the national Heroes, they persevered and were found innocent in one of the closest votes the Wizengamot has ever performed, including a record braking 176 abstentions._

_After a long week of this trial, including many shocking twists, such as the testimony of Hogwarts potion master Severus Snape, to the controversial testimony given by Cyrus Greengrass._

_At the end of the trial Mr. Potter (Soon to be Lord Potter) embraced his betrothed and delivered a jaw dropping and passionate kiss that will undoubtedly be talked about in Witch Weekly for the rest of the year and win many of their awards. _

_The defendants expressed their gratitude to their friends and reporters who have stood by them through the pain and rain that the last few weeks have brought them. But most of all they thanked their Attorney Griselda Marchbanks who has proven that her titles and placements are well earned._

_According to many sources Marchbanks is reportedly the most sought out lawyer now and will soon became the highest paid Attorney of all time._

_When asked to comment on this, all Marchbanks had to say was that she would have done it for free and that the experience had been one of a kind and that she would do it again in a heartbeat. When asked about future plans, she declined to comment, citing that she had no idea what the future held._

_Millicent Bagnold, Minister for Magic…..Again!_

_By Rita Skeeter_

_In a shocking turn of events, Millicent Bagnold has been elected Minister for Magic once again, to serve a fourth full term after a six year absence. After the well-publicized trial of Harry Potter, Daphne Greengrass and Sirius Black and their proven innocence, Bagnold took to slamming Minister Bones for staging the entire trial and requested a vote of no confidence which was readily backed by many in the Wizengamot._

_Millicent Bagnold set many records as minister for magic during her original 11 year tenure, chief of them being the youngest ever elected at 35. She has since become the first ever minster to be elected after retiring._

_Minister Bagnold was hailed as the minister for the ages and swiftly defeated he-who-must-not-be-named upon his first rise to power and introduced many favourable laws and introduced the WWW._

_We hope her best and our prayers are with her in helping her defeat you-know-who, once and for all_

~oOo~

Millicent Bagnold read the articles with a smugness nobody else could have imagined. Her plan had worked perfectly and now, she was back in_ her_ old office, sitting in _her_ old chair and drinking _her_ own brandy, with _her_ feet resting upon_ her_ old desk. It was good to be home.

She was very happy that her allies had been found not guilty, and they had better be innocent in the eyes of the entire Wizarding World after all the money she had spent and all the favours and weight she had to pull on to get the majority to either abstain or vote for their innocence had been incredible. She was exhausted after all that.

She needed to get down to work now, If Voldemort were to be defeated she would need to do so fast. She had plans prepared for this eventuality ever since his first fall in 1981, two years after she was first elected.

At the age 52, Millicent still wasn't very old compared to wizarding standards, most lived past 100, and some like Griselda Marchbanks were almost 130 years old and still healthy. Millicent still had her refreshing and youthful beauty, in the muggle world she could be in her late twenties. Five years of lying on beaches without a care in the world could do that to you.

She was grateful for Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore, and especially Griselda Marchbanks…. Maybe she could give Marchbanks some bullshit prize for saving the lives of her innocent clients. Albus was still wary of her, but that was no matter at this point. For the next 24 hours she was going to celebrate and have a little last bit of relaxing before getting back to work.

Many had questioned her reason for returning. She was set for life and had already gone down in history as the greatest minster of all time. Many said it was that she had a good heart and recognized when her people needed her. Many said that she was returning to return to the spotlight. However her reasons were very different than public opinion.

Among her many reasons, the most important was that she had felt threatened by Lord Voldemort, it was almost as if he was taunting her. Millicent Bagnold was something of a perfectionist and she liked to get the job done, Voldemort returning only symbolized that her job was only half done and if she truly wanted to defeat Voldemort, then she needed to defeat him once for all.

Another reason was that with Voldemort back, her image could be in jeopardy. She had wanted her legacy to be unrivalled and as the best minister of all time, but with the fact that he was back people might began to think that she had cut corners, much like they had during the trial. She was not going to have her reputation soiled by some Dark Lord, nothing would stop her.

She was back and back to work, her vacation was over, She had been recalled to life.

~oOo~

Harry Potter clicked his glass of firewhiskey with his betrothed, godfather and lawyer. They had done it; against all Odds they had won the trial and were free now. His godfather could roam the streets, without fear of being arrested. Marchbanks had secured her reputation and secured the lives of three innocent people.

Over the last few weeks of the trial they had all grown incredibly close. Daphne had isolated herself at first, hated Harry for doing this to her. But over time she warmed up at seeing how affected Harry and Sirius really were and how much Sirius cared for Harry and vice versa.

They had made it out together and their bonds were much stronger than they had been going in. They had seen each other's dark side and their better sides. Daphne was now looking forward to spending the rest of her life with Harry.

"To, Griselda Marchbanks, without her we might be going through the veil right now."

"Thank you Daphne, It's been a pleasure helping you in your Stand. I wish the best for all of you in life."

The four of them exchanged some small talk for a while, but considering it was almost midnight and the last few weeks had been quite tiring, everybody needed a good rest.

They parted ways, Harry, Daphne and Sirius went back to Grimmauld Place and were greeted to the sight of Narcissa and Remus involved in a passionate kiss by the fireplace.

"What the fuck is going on here!"

The two whipped their heads around to face Sirius in shock.

"We can ex-"

"You better be able to, why are my best friend and my cousin snogging? Plus, to that why she is even here!"

"Siri, I ran away a couple of weeks ago from Lucius, he invited the Dark Lord to live at Malfoy Manor and that was crossing the line for me. I never prescribed to the Pureblood agenda but went along with it because I was forced to."

"I came here for refuge and found Remus moping about the house about you being arrested... and that was over two weeks ago."

"One thing led to another…." Put in Remus.

"Tonight we just in such a great mood 'because you were freed and…"

"Okay I don't want to know the details! But I will want a full explanation when I wake up in the morning though, I will want a full explanation and your intentions toward each other."

Sirius stormed up the stairs to the master bedroom with a wide grin on his face; finally Mooney was going to get some.

~oOo~

The next morning thousands of people tuned into the WWW, to hear their report on the events of yesterday, Millicent Bagnold turned the radio up to full, Sirius Black played it over his morning coffee, Augusta Longbottom with her grandson and his girlfriend.

_Ladies and Gentleman I will know defer you to the emergency meeting of the ICW._

"_Today Begins a new era. No longer will we tolerate Dark Lords and menaces to our magical society. If the British are unable to defeat the one known as Lord Voldemort themselves than the ICW will have to take action, We cannot have such a threat to our society menace us. The People of the magical world have to stand united in our fight against Darkness. _

_I welcome you all to the new world order that I present to you. No longer will we hide in fear from so-called Dark Lords. Today we take our first of many steps to prevent a rise of power again. _

Millicent Bagnold tuned out in horror. She scrambled to her papers and transfer files, this could not be happening. She found the document she had been looking for and read it clearly before sinking back into her seat.

**Date- 24TH July 1995**

**Transfer of Amos Diggory as British Ambassador for the ICW**

**Signed- Edward Rothlilith (Wizengamot Elder)**

**Effective- Immediately**

_As Chancellor of the ICW it is my pleasure, to present to you, the new world magical constitution!_

End of Part 1

1. I so much hate to leave you with another cliffhanger, I promise this will be the last one for a while.

2. I apologize for the trial, it was very hard to write and I hope I didn't lose any readers due to my awful writing during the Trial.

3. My next chapter which deals with the aftermath and fallout of this arc, isn't finished yet so it might be another 2 weeks, sorry to keep you waiting.

4. Cyrus Greengrass will not be receiving a trial, or at least a trial like this. It will be a swift off with his head, Probably in the next chapter and then we'll close Harry and Daphne's past and turn the page.

5. The next part will not be a different story, as I have said before.

6. Thank you to my life saving Beta Anka7995

7. The reviews I am getting are constructive and I will use them to improve the story, I assure you this is the last cliff-hanger.

8. As always thanks so much for Reading, and remember to review!


	9. The Cure

The Cure

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

"You know what_Aunt _Amelia, you really are an unsympathetic Bitch, and I hope you get what you deserve!" Susan Bones yelled at her aunt.

Things were not going great for Amelia. After being impeached as Minister she had been left without a job, the ministry wouldn't take her back even as a low ranking law officer. Her accounts at Gringotts had been frozen, apparently she was being suspected of embezzlement. She spent most of her days inside her house now, sulking. Everyone had turned their backs on her, even the allies of her once proud family, she had lost everything.

Susan had immediately become furious at her for what she had done, but who wouldn't? She had done a terrible thing, and only by a stroke of luck had they been freed.

She choked back another sob, as Susan continued to tear at her. The Bones family seat on the Wizengamot was also currently frozen meaning that it was unusable for 100 years by the family, unless the Wizengamot voted for it to be completely revoked from the family or the family sold it.

The house shook as she felt the wards collapse suddenly. She whipped her head around to face the entrance of the house, than back to Susan. Outside the windows she could see Death Eater setting fire to Bones manor.

"Susan, Run." Bellowed Amelia in a faraway voice, she had been too distracted with her own troubles to notice the Death Eaters descending upon the House, and now it was too late.

"No! You are coming with me, I may not care much for you right now but you are family." Said the Hufflepuff readhead.

"GO!" Amelia exclaimed.

"Auntie, please!" Susan said, her voice becoming urgent and pleading.

The Death Eaters burst through the front door led by Voldemort himself. Susan was pleading with her to come. Amelia didn't have time for this.

She mouthed a quiet 'Sorry' to Susan before banishing her into the fireplace adorned with green flames, Susan managed to squeak out Abbot Manor just before she fell unconscious and with that she vanished.

Amelia's opponents had advanced on her greatly. She fought back with all she could, but she was greatly outnumbered and overpowered. She threw a last bludgeoning hex at a death eater before slipping to her knees, exhausted.

Voldemort walked up to her and stood towering over her with a wide sadistic grin plastered on his face. His face was so distorted, he looked nothing like he had before, and he looked inhuman almost like the snakes his house stood for

"How Hufflepuff of you to protect your niece Amelia, but it was not her we wanted. Prepare to face your fate _Madam_ Bones."

xoxo

It had been almost a week since the trial and Harry, Daphne and Sirius had spent the better part of it sleeping, much to the annoyance of their friends.

Sirius wanted to keep an eye on Remus and Narcissa whose relationship had come out of the blue. He had finally given in to absolving her marriage after a few days, not wanting Moony to get involved with Malfoy's leftovers.

That bitch Bones had been attacked, she had been rushed to St. Mungo's. Nobody seemed to care though as it rarely was talked about; she might be more hated than Voldemort currently. He thought it was a shame that she survived, even if she had been thoroughly mangled.

Bagnold wouldn't stop sending him letters, they were having a meeting the next day, he just hoped that they could the next session of the Wizengamot was to be held in a week and he was learning the ways of the court from Daphne.

He was also supposed to meet Edward Rothlilith; apparently he was even more an ally now that his cousin Eliza was now Chancellor of the ICW, which meant that she controlled the entire international judicial body.

In his opinion it was too much power for one person, but what could he do? That's just the way the biscuit crumbles.

Dumbledore had been forced to resign as Supreme Mugwump, something about conflict of interest. The newspapers had yet to print a story that stated their opinion of the matter.

The press though had been printing about lot of not so secret meeting between Dumbledore and Bagnold. Lots of late night calls were being made if you believed Rita Skeeter. She stipulated that the two were having an affair and were going to make the most powerful couple in England, despite their almost 60 year age difference.

At this point Harry didn't care about the outside world. All he cared about was that his Girlfriend was safe and His godfather was sound asleep in the next room, that his family was okay.

xoxo

Amadeus Rothlilith sipped another bit of his steamy coffee sitting in the grand dining room at Schloss Wertvoll.

Amadeus was a quiet man; he had been raised on the rolling green estates of the Rothlilith Family and had been bred to do his job as Paterfamilias. He had been the Head of Family for almost 10 years now, and heir apparent for almost 40. At the age of 75, he was still young, considering the oldest ever Rothlilith had been 216 and their average life expectancy being almost 125, he still had a long way to go. He was one of the younger heads and would probably be one of the longest serving ones too.

He was only the second Archduke Rothlilith. When the German dynasty of the family ended during the 1940's and the Headship reverted back to Austrian Rothlilith's, they had been granted a new title as Archduke of Cormania, a walled city in the north of Austria, this was where Schloss Wertvoll lay.

They had been simply Baron's in Austria before, due to their aid during the Great War, they had been given a promotion to Archdukedom of the lands surrounding Schloss Wertvoll, the palace that had been built by Rothlilith's almost 1000 years ago and became their official seat.

Many people had questioned their longevity and how it was maintained, as well as their lifespan and ability to have so many children time after time, while having their blood remain pure.

That was due to a dark secret that the family kept secret for ages. Long ago the Rothlilith's had originally been a clan of Vampire's during the time of the Ancient Egyptians. However as time grew on the vampires associated with many other creatures, including the Veela and Werewolf (the latter was much less common.) and eventually Humans.

As time grew on and the blood blended into a mix between many different creatures the Family possessed a more human look. As time passed the clan developed considerable wealth and assets and was at the start of many great empires. The Rothlilith's were almost genetically engineered to be beings of perfection, taking in the best abilities of all species.

No they did not drink blood and turn others into vampires. No they did not possess the ability to turn into a giant bird that was very mighty in power, nor did they turn into demons once a month. Nor was their anatomy strictly human.

They did however possess incredibly long lives, eternal beauty, and the ability to heal rather quickly. Their weaknesses were limited and well protected and their strengths well built upon.

The Family was not simply human, it was created specially with the best that every species had to offer, inbreeding was carefully selected every few generations, and every few centuries did they infuse more Veela, Werewolf and Vampire blood into their veins.

Amadeus was proud of his lineage, and almost nobody outside the family knew of their true heritage. Many people suspected that they were their own separate species, and though that was technically true, they would never admit to that.

The Rothlilith's had built an empire; they spanned the world and controlled governments. In fact a niece of his was now the Chancellor of the ICW, a very big accomplishment; she now controlled the entire organization and could declare war or impose tariffs at any given time. The best part was that she was completely loyal to him.

Amadeus strived to do anything to further the power and wealth of their family. In the past several centuries, the Rothlilith's had disappeared from public eye, though that was all because of a treaty with the then newly formed ICW, which had just expired a month ago.

The treaty had been established 1595, due to their vast empire. At that point in time the family heads were a series of Dictators ruling their individual countries, with the Paterfamilias being the King of Kings.

They ruled with an iron fist and many were killed if they disobeyed, many could not afford to eat, or pay their taxes. It was a sad sight to see such magic wasted, but if they were not in favour with their leader, then they would not be in favour with anyone. Those who had aspired to be something greater, with a talent and obeyed their King would be rewarded.

Eventually, their dynasty was overthrown after a long war with the ICW and they negotiated a peace treaty. In exchange for their Surrender, the ICW would let the family live and let them continue to prosper, the condition being they would stay out of high influential positions for the next 500 years, Of course the ICW didn't expect the family to last that long.

As magic fades over time so did some of the terms, for instance, over the last fifty years they had been able to hold high power government jobs, such as Ambassadors and Ministers for Magic, though they hadn't dared try for Supreme Mugwump until the contract expired.

Around 100 years ago, the Rothlilith's been still very prominent in their views and as such were very outspoken and active members of the Wizengamot in England. Around that time, a member of the family (English Branch leader of the time) went against the Families wishes and tried to attain the title of Supreme Mugwump, he was elected but only seconds later did he die of a magically induced heart attack.

But now the contract had expired and they were free to rule the world again.

Part of his new constitution declared Slavery once again legal, slavery of any being. Once that was legal he would began creating an empire based on it and slowly build his own forces while crippling the other magical countries.

The constitution was still being written, but it would be passed no matter what it said. After all, the Chancellor's word was law…

xoxo

Millicent Bagnold was not having a good week.

She had fired Amos Diggory for his stupidity and he went to the press declaring her an insensitive madwoman who wanted absolute power.

Of course she wouldn't take that lying down, so she responded in full force. She wrote a vicious letter to the editor on Amos Diggory and his incompetence and how he needed to take a break and finish grieving for his son's death. However other magazines began to publish material on what an awful bitch she was, and if that wasn't bad enough Voldemort had killed another 5 muggle families in the wake of her election. Of course that was dealt with swiftly, she even killed a few death eaters on the scene, they got the culprits but they were too late to save the families.

Dumbledore was trying to get information for her on how long it would take to pull out of the ICW.

It was no longer safe to be part of an ICW which was ruled by a Chancellor. Countries such as Russia and Australia had already pulled out of the ICW, severing ties with it and others were following suit. Apparently their ambassadors hadn't discussed the vote with their superiors.

She was going to be delivering a Speech to the Wizengamot later on in the week to get them to vote on it. The majority of them would probably vote in her favour, the light block loved democracy and the Purebloods were control freaks, Plus the simple fact that it was Millicent Bagnold would gain a lot of votes.

The problem was the Rothlilith's were very powerful and held lots of sway with the old families. The old families though small in number, were perhaps one of the biggest voting forces.

She was going to wait until Black and Potter took their seats so she could gain another good chunk of votes. However that was at least another week and the new world order constitution was being drafted very quickly. If the constitution was imposed before they could pull out, things were not going to end well.

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"You must be Mr. Potter, Let me introduce myself. I am Edward Rothlilith."

"Charmed." Harry replied with an undertone of mystery. The two were situated at the breezy coastal manor that the Rothlilith's held in England. His meeting had finally arrived and it was time to see where everyone stood.

"I'm going to get straight to business Mr. Potter. English democracy along with the rest of the world is falling too pieces. We need your help as heir presumptive to the Davenport family to help us. The Davenport name is widely respected throughout Europe, Africa and parts of Asia. It would be a tremendous help if your name was on the list that backs the approval of the constitution that my cousin is currently writing."

"I don't understand what is wrong with the current system. Surely a world government would cause much problems, it is too much power for one person to be in control of such power."

"You see Mr. Potter that is where you are wrong. A world government would change the world for the better. It would unite the world under one banner and spread equality and balance through civilization. The economy would raise sky high and creed would be utterly destroyed."

"But how such a thing would be controlled by one person?"

"It is not controlled by one person, think of the chancellor as a spokeswoman. The ICW would be the Government of Governments. The local governments would remain the same; however the government, in your case the Wizengamot and by extension the Minister, report to the ICW. The ICW would regulate basic rules. Think of the countries as provinces and the entire world as a country."

"Not that I am disagreeing but… People would certainly be opposed to this idea; this idea might even cause an uprising."

"Uprisings can be contained and dealt with; if it arises it will be quickly diminished." Edward responded in a very solemn tone.

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"I hereby call this meeting of the Wizengamot in to order." Dumbledore declared.

Harry and Sirius were both located in the second uppermost tier of the building, Harry's seat had originally been the Davenport seat, however when Charlus had taken over he had it completely redone to resemble the Potter booth.

Daphne sat with Harry in his booth in the chair designated for his spouse. She watched on the other members of the Wizengamot carefully observing their reactions to the announcement of Harry and Sirius joining the quorum.

"As Minister for Magic, I find that it is my duty to suggest that we pull out of the ICW effective immediately." Said Bagnold calm and collectedly as soon as Dumbledore had finished his introduction speech.

"The new world constitution could have dire effects on our country, our people and our legacy. If a world government were to be created, our nobility would fall and the other countries would have the power to smite us by law. We need to preserve our heritage for the generations to come, not reverse it. I mean this with no disrespect to those creating the charter, but we cannot accept such a threat to our country and patriotism, three hundred years from now, do we really want to be mixed in with the Americans and Africans? Our history is what makes us who we are and if we don't have that, what do we have? Three hundred years from now, will people still remember the Empire of Britannia and it's nobility, it's society and it's wealth? This is not acceptable and I say that we pull out of the ICW before we are sucked into a hole we cannot get out of, our future as a nation depends on it. "

There was a thunderous applause for Bagnold as she finished, the so called light and dark factions were united in preserving the country for generations to come. Daphne watched as the Edward Rothlilith's face darkened.

Harry had returned to Grimmauld the other day after his meeting with Rothlilith about how strong Edward was in his opinion. If England pulled out of the ICW, they would be unprotected from the vast empire the ICW spanned; Edward begun to stand in a surprisingly calm posture.

"Well said Madam Bagnold and I totally agree with you. However you are wrong on some small points. Whether you agree or not with the new charter, it will be passed and when it does, the ICW will represent a vast majority of civilization. The country would be left out on many things the ICW would offer its member nations, protection, free trade, a strong economy, aid in times of medical or financial crises, or god forbid, a war. The benefits of a world government outweigh the wrongs within. Is it worth preserving a heritage that could be easily erased?"

The Purebloods were utterly shocked at his threat and demanded that a vote take place immediately. Bagnold instead looked quite surprised at what Baron Rothlilith had to say, it appeared by the look on her face, that she was realizing what had been in front of her for so long. They were going to be controlled no matter what, by not being in the ICW they would be destroyed for opposing them, and being in the ICW their civil rights would be abolished.

The vote passed with a vast majority, only a handful of people voting for the stay in the ICW, namely Edward Rothlilith and the other older families.

Edward Rothlilith immediately left the room with a wide smirk and a telegram arrived for Harry telling him to meet Bagnold and Dumbledore ASAP.

xoxo

Across the world in the small town of Waterdown in Canada, oblivious to the going on in the magical world. Kyle Kennery sat outside his country home on the back porch.

Kyle Kennery was just like every other kid in his town. He attended school, he played team sports, hung out with his friends; but Kyle had a secret. A secret he was deeply ashamed of and why he was sitting outside in the darkness of the hot summer.

Kyle Kennery was a squib.

His family line went back centuries and until recently, had been situated in England. His extended family, however frowned upon squibs and when they heard that, Kyle was a squib, his maternal family and paternal family had offered his parents an ultimatum, Either too get rid of Kyle, or be banished from the family.

His parents were what were known as purebloods in the magical world, meaning that their families consisted of purely magical members for the last 5 generations. However his Mother's and Father's families had a much longer line of magicals, dating back to almost the time of Christ.

His extended family was widely respected on both sides and to have a squib in the family was social suicide.

But his family wouldn't give him up and were banished from their respective families, all records of their union were erased and they were given fake deaths. His Mother's family had given them a million dollars, a new name and told them to go away forever.

His Family changed their name to Kennery, moved to Canada and settled.

Though he knew his family loved him and would do anything for him. He felt responsible for their banishment and why they weren't allowed to fulfill their dreams anymore.

He was brought out of his murky thoughts by a crash in the forest his house backed onto. Naturally being the 14 year old boy that he was, he immediately went to investigate.

He slowly moved off of the bench he was sitting on and entered the dark and expansive forest their property backed on. He glanced around a few times, searching for a possible lead on what had happened. He finally spotted a dim white light about 50 meters ahead of him.

He walked cautiously over to the source of the ominous light. His breath tightened and heart raced as he approached it. Eventually he reached the source of the light in a small clearing.

In the small grassy clearing, there was a small orb, about a quarter of a meter in diameter. The orb seemed to contain some kind of blue mist that radiated bright light.

He was just about to reach out and pick it up when suddenly, all the light receded back into the orb and the mist seemed to dim for a moment before it flashed white once more and then exploded sending a shockwave of energy his way. Before Kyle could brace himself he was flung back into a nearby tree where he slumped to the ground unconscious.

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"So what do we do next?" Harry asked.

"We wait and hear as to what the constitution entails; Regardless though, we should bulk up our aurors and put them through even more training exercises, if we thought that Voldemort was a threat, than the Rothlilith's should be our worst fear." Replied Bagnold

"We cannot however face a war on two fronts. Since your election, Voldemort has stepped up his attacks. We need to begin an offensive attack on his forces, or prepare a truce." Added Dumbledore

"A Truce?" Bagnold asked incredulously.

"Yes, a truce. For a mutual benefit, he wishes that the nation is preserved and the pureblood methods kept, if the ICW attacked us, which they most likely will upon declaration of their constitution. "

"How could we even propose a truce if we don't even know where he is!"

"That is in fact, incorrect. We have a spy within his ranks that could provide the message."

"Well than by all means go ahead!"

xoxo

Kyle regained consciousness a day later in his own bed. Apparently his parents had found him in the forest with a slight concussion. His parents had used their magic to find him and heal his injuries he found out later. Why he had been knocked out for a whole day, they didn't know. They suspected it might have been a magical device, but if they had any idea what it was, they wouldn't tell him.

He returned to school the next day, but something seemed off. Not with his friends, but with himself. He felt a sudden rush of energy followed by a wave of fatigue. During class his vision went in and out of focus. He had a nagging feeling that something wasn't right. Those effects continued throughout the whole week and finally at the end of the week while he was at home watching T.V, he collapsed.

His parents once again found him when they came home and revived him.

They talked for a while in the kitchen, they began to argue. Kyle hated when they argued and could feel anger rising within him.

"JUST STOP IT!" He bellowed.

He got the attention of his parents, not because of his comment, but because of what ensued. Every object in the living room simultaneously lit on fire. Before Kyle could realize what was happening he collapsed once more. Why did his life have to be so complicated?

xoxo

"It is my pleasure, as you're chancellor, to announce the new world Constitution!"

"This constitution represents a new beginning for the world, and the end of the old. Effective immediately, all member nations of the ICW are to receive military protection, along with financial aid. The new charter also states that, the ICW is to function as the head of state for all member nations, all laws passed within a member country must be approved by the ICW, and all laws passed by the ICW must be abided by its member nations. As I said before, while we usher in the new era, we say goodbye to an old one."

"The old era and all remnants of it must be destroyed, to enforce a peaceful society for the future. We cannot have a magical world vulnerable to the muggles, thus from now on, I declare all non-members of the ICW, enemies of the state. You have one month to join us… or be destroyed. The new constitution also entails…."

All around the world people were shocked by what the new constitution would be enforcing. The 20 countries that were non-members were shocked the most and many of them scrambled for re-entry into the congress.

Only five were adamant on staying out of the ICW, of those five being, Russia, Australia, England, Brazil, China.

Bagnold had already sent an emissary out to all four countries to propose a meeting for a plan of attack; she suspected only Australia and Brazil to come, as political relationships weren't especially high with Russia and China.

She hoped that an alliance could be found quickly and a combination of all of their resources would be needed to protect them.

However in the meantime she needed to protect her country immediately, she was going to ban immigration as well as emigration, she would put up a military blockade around the country, nobody was getting in or out without her direct permission.

She suspected that there were already spies from the ICW high up in her government and she was going to inspect them closely.

She needed to protect her country, not only as a matter of politics, but on a personal level as well.

xoxo

Kyle awoke a few hours later in what seemed like a hospital. Bright lights filled his room and he could faintly hear whispering in the corner. His body ached all over and his brain was pounding.

He could make out the voices of his parents and another person through the whispers, eventually their voices stopped and he could hear footsteps approaching him.

"Hello Kyle."

"Mom, why I am in the hospital?"  
"This isn't a real hospital Kyle. I have to explain something to you. You see… that night in the woods, it seems that you were hit with a magical shockwave that supercharged your magical core. I'm going to let the Healer do the rest of the explaining because she knows better than I what exactly happened."

"Well Mr. Kennery, from the tests that I have run, around a week ago, you were hit with a pulse of pure magical energy that was sucked in by your previously empty magical core. Since then your body has tried to reject the magic as it was identified as a foreign entity, causing you the multiple bouts of unconsciousness. At this point your magical core has started to stabilize, however the fact that you are now magical could pose a problem."

"Problem?" Kyle asked

"Yes, what you have undergone has never happened before and must be thoroughly researched. It also poses the question on what caused this and who created it, if you had been anything but a squib, that shockwave could have killed you. You see the differences between a squib and muggle are very little, however squibs are born with magical receptors, but have no magic in their core."

"So when can I leave?"

"Unfortunately that has to be determined; you are to be observed by a few specialists and with the whole new political landscape…"

"What this about a new political landscape?" Abruptly asked Kyle's Father.

"The New World Order of course."

"New World Order?"

"Yes it has replaced the ICW; basically it is one large empire that oversees 90% of the magical countries."

"How did this happen?"  
"Well it started after Eliza Rothlilith ascended to the position of Chancellor of the ICW."

"Rothlilith?"

"Yes that's what I said. What rock have you been living under?"

"What exactly does this mean though?" Kyle asked

"Well immigration and emigration within the NWO has been banned and-"

"Shit! This was just as grandfather has been saying for years; we have to get out of the country." Said Kyle's mother.

"I'm afraid I cannot allow that to happen" said the healer

"Aside from the political ban, Kyle contains medical secrets that we can only dream of and that could save lives." The Healer continued

"No, Kyle were leaving, we must see my father in England." Said Kyle's father.

Kyle's dad pulled him out of the bed and dashed to the door of the room. The Healer moved to block the family but was knocked down. The family of three quickly fled the room with Kyle in a mass confusion.

The hallway was in pristine condition and seemed to go on forever. While Kyle may not have had any sense of direction, his parents certainly did and they soon found themselves in the lobby of the strange magical hospital.

A large crash suddenly struck the building though and people wearing dark coats and bearing what looked like his Parents wands began firing beams of various colours at his parents.

His parents were very nimble for their age and managed to dodge most of their shots. They began to fight back and firing their own shots. However their enemies seemed to be closing in fast.

"Sandra, get Kyle out of here! I'll handle things here."  
Kyle's mom Sandra gave his father a kiss before leaving with tears streaming down her face. Kyle still confused as hell followed her as ordered and the pair were out of the building in a hurry and onto a busy street in the middle of Toronto.

Kyle didn't have a chance to turn around and look at where he had just came from as his mother thrust him into a nearby ally way. They weren't safe for long however as their mysterious pursuers quickly caught up to them and Kyle and his mother found themselves in a dead end.

"Kyle, grab my hand."

"How is that going to help?"

"Just do it!"

Kyle did as he was told and just as a deadly looking green spell was rushing towards them everything seemed to vanish and Kyle experienced the most excruciating pain ever.

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Things were going much smoother at Grimmauld Place where many in the house were blissfully unaware of the going on;s in the outside world. Harry and Daphne had taken to secluding themselves in their bedroom. Remus and Narcissa hadn't left the house since the trial and were getting noticeably closer. Sirius on the other hand was not blissfully unaware and was not calm at all regarding the situation outside.

He very much regarded the NWO as a threat and didn't think for a minute that they wouldn't start a war. He and Dumbledore had begun a correspondence and what Dumbles knew only confirmed his fears.

Sirius had been declared a free man with a clean slate. But what type of life would he live if his world and his loved ones were gone

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In an alley way near Charring ton Cross road two people, a young male and his mother appeared out of thin air.

Kyle immediately threw up upon landing on the solid ground after that long and exhausting trip. However as much as he was troubled by what he had just experienced his mother looked very pale and that was disconcerting.

"Mom, what is going on here?"

"Kyle, you must get out of here quickly, on the street that connects with this alley there is a place called the Leaky Cauldron, once their find a man named Thomas Griffith, he is-"

"Mom what the hell is going on?"

"Kyle Just shut up and listen, I don't have much time left?"

"What does that mean?"  
"What we just did was apparate; it's a magical form of transportation. Basically we just transported from Toronto to London England."

"How is that possible?"

"Magic however in doing so I expended my entire magical core and without magic, my body will no longer survive. I am going to die very soon."

"No, I won't let you!"

"I don't have much time, Kyle you need to tell Thomas Griffith that your mother was Alyssa Davenport and your father was Markus Rothlilith. He will help you from there on out."

"No, you are coming with me!"

"I told you Kyle, I'm dying. I don't have much time left I can already feel my magic leaving me."

"No!"

"Remember that I love you Kyle, I will always be with you and this isn't the end, it's only the beginning."

His mother's words became fainter and fainter as she went on and as soon as she finished her sentence her eyes began to roll back into her head and she collapsed quietly, her body devoid of life.

Kyle simultaneously collapsed, trying everything he could to save her, but he knew she was gone and he had to accept it.

He took her last words to heart about a new beginning and turned around and began to march towards the Leaky Cauldron, he turned around one last time to see his dead mother, but she had vanished. Where the corpse had just laid was nothing but thin air.

His world was about to change dramatically.

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1. To be honest, I hate this chapter. To tell the truth i'm only putting it out there because it is unfair to keep you, my loyal readers who have stuck with the story through my 3 month absence waiting any longer I've been sitting on this chapter for about two months now and have been thinking of other directions to take this story. I feel like alot of this chapter was generic %$#&, and I hope that you can forgive me. All that being said, this story is not abandoned, I have a duty to finish what i have started, and that means i will finish this story. Expect at least a month in between updates, as I do have other things in my life besides writing fanfiction. But rest assured I will continue writing this story, I do not want to turn into one of those writers who writes a great start to his/her story then never finishes it.

2. As you can tell i am terrible at writing death scenes so please forgive me.

3. The next chapter should pick up right where this one leaves off, the plot will also start to pick up faster.

4. I hope that y'all liked my development of a cure for the squibs. In the next few chapters i will try to turn it into a plot device.

5. As always thank you to my magnificent Beta Anka7995

6. Please Read and Review, I would really like to know what you guys think about this chapter!


	10. The Start Of Something New

**The Start Of Something New **

**Warning- Some Coarse Language, Viewer Discretion is Advised **

The Leaky Cauldron reminded Kyle of a pub from medieval times. It was dark and dank; it reeked of strange fumes and was dimly lit from floating chandeliers bearing candles which gave a greenish glow to the place, it was filled with many strangely dressed people who wore cloaks which looked like bathrobes in public. There was only one word to describe the place... creepy.

Kyle was not ready for this, he was still in shock from witnessing his Mother dying and that he may never see his Father again. But it was all he had left, he needed to do what had been set out for him, he needed to find Thomas Griffith.

He took a deep which was supposed to be calming but turned out to be shaky breath and walked off towards what he hoped was the front desk of sorts and to the barkeep. He stood there for a few moments unsure of what to do.

"Are you just gonna stand there, or are you going to order something?" The barkeep asked, looking a bit annoyed at the person who was just occupying space and not adding to the business.

"Some water…. Please?" Kyle managed to stammer out.

The barkeep gave him a stern and inquisitive look for a long moment. The barkeep cast some sort of spell and water poured out from what was probably his wand and into a glass that appeared out of thin air. He passed the glass, now full with cold and clear water over to Kyle.

Kyle remained calm surprisingly but could not bring himself to pick up the glass.

"Are you going to drink it?" Asked the Barkeep

"Err; I'm looking for Thomas Griffith?" Asked Kyle abruptly

"….E's right over there." Gestured the Barkeep to one of the sleeping drunks hunched over one of the dark and grimy tables

"Thank you."

Kyle approached the sleeping man and took the seat next to him. He just sat there for a while observing the man before trying to shake him awake. After a while the man slowly started to rouse.

"Thomas Griffith?" Kyle asked hesitantly.

"Yes and who the bloody hell are you?" The man grumbled, evidently not happy to be woken from his drunken stupor.

"Hi I'm Kyle Kennery, my parents told me to find you."

"I don't know anyone by the name of Kennery; in fact I can't remember ever hearing no wizard by that name."

"Um, my parents were Alyssa Davenport and Markus Rothlilith."

The man gave him a hard long look, judging every aspect of him.

"Tom!" He shouted in the direction of the barkeep.

"I'm going to be using one of the private rooms in the back."

"Go ahead; numbers 1 through 8 are all available."

"Follow me, kid." Thomas told Kyle.

Griffith led Kyle out of the main room and into another dimly lit section of the building and through a wooden door labelled number 3.

The room was surprisingly bright and revealed the small rustic room. The room held a table and a few chairs around it which Thomas used to sit back down in and gestured for Kyle to sit down as well. Thomas poured himself a drink.

"So Mr. Kennery, why are you here?" Griffith asked, sternly.

"Because by Parents told me to come." Kyle replied, unsure of what else could he say.

"Well From my understanding you are a squib. Unless you are not who you say you are?"

"Well I was a squib, but a few days ago something changed that and that's why I'm here."

"Then where are you parents?"

"Dead, my dad has presumably been killed by the men chasing us and my mom used up all her magic trying to get me here."

"Well that's quite the story, but how am I supposed to believe you? The last time I talked to your parents was just before they left for Canada."

"I don't know, why else would I be here to talk to you?"

"….Good Point. Now moving on, My Name is Thomas Griffith, but you can call me Tom. I met your parents back at Hogwarts."

At Kyle's confused look Tom clarified.

"A Magical School... What do you know about your parent's life?"

"That they were kicked out of the family for not giving me up and that because of that they were forced to live in Canada."

"You're parents come from two very prominent very wealthy families and where what we call purists a purist believes that magicals should only breed with other magicals; they are called purebloods, magicals who can trace back their magical lineage hundreds of years. You are a pureblood, as the Davenports and Rothlilith's can trace their lineage back to before the time of merlin, however not all purebloods are purists. Are you following me?"

"Yeah."

"Good cause it gets complicated. There is a second type of magical person, a half blood, a magical born from either a pureblood and a muggle, or a pureblood and a Muggleborn. A Muggle is someone without magic, the difference between a muggle and a squib, is that muggles have no magical relatives and a Muggleborn is a magical who has no magical relatives. You still follow?

"I guess."

"Okay so now that you have those terms, let me explain something. A squib born into a pureblood family and a purist one at that is a stain on their great tapestry and must be despised of, even if it is for their own good, which is why you were made to leave."

"Now that you are magical, that is no longer an issue. But now that you can enter the magical world, you face new perils. There is currently a massive civil war going on, between the purists and the corrupt magical government. And on top of all that you're fraternal family, the Rothlilith are about to wage war on Britain as they now control 90% of the magical world."

"Okay, and this is relevant to me because?"

"It means that you are about to enter a world with a dangerous political climate, should you decide to proceed as Kyle Kennery, a foreign Muggleborn or Half-blood for all intents and purposes, you will be shunned and become a target. Should you decided to use the name Rothlilith, the Rothlilith's would immediately swoop in and dissect you for information on how to manipulate you're change to being a magical. And if you decide to be a Davenport, people will suspect something as your side of the family has gone extinct and the headship of the family went to the other side of the family tree. You can't just live as a muggle anymore, it's unsafe now that you have uncontrolled magic in you now."

"So what do you suggest I do?"

"Well for starters you're going to need some cash, lucky for you, before you left for Canada, you're parents prepared for this. They left an account open for you at Gringotts the wizard bank unless anything ever happened to them."

"Why would they open an account for me in a wizard bank if I wasn't a wizard?"

"Well, it wasn't exactly opened for you, it was opened by your grandparents on the Davenport side, but your parent meant for you to have it in case anything happened to them, there was probably an access from a muggle bank as well."

"Okay, so once I get the money then what."

"I suggest the best course of option is to contact who is ever head of the Davenport family and ask them for safety, as a member of the family you have the right."

"What does that mean?"

"It means you will become a member of the family and that the head of the family is obliged to provide you with protection."

"Sounds like a plan."

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Harry and Daphne stood in front of the glorious mansion that was Davenport Manor. The Mansion was a three story Victorian style Manor House. The property surrounding the Mansion was just as jaw dropping as the House itself, surrounding the grounds was a dense forest presumably loaded with charms to keep the muggles living in the nearby village away.

Harry and Daphne had left Grimmauld Place earlier that morning to check out Davenport Manor, Harry and Daphne was going to be moving in there with Sirius and Remus and Narcissa were going to be staying at Grimmauld (their relationship had really taken off at this point, contrary to the efforts of Sirius).

Harry guided Daphne up the front stairs and opened the majestic mahogany front door. The interior of the old mansion was grand and spacious. There was a massive staircase in the middle of the foyer that spiralled up to the third floor, the floors were made of granite, the ceiling was vaulted and most amazingly, despite being uninhabited for at least 30 years, the Manor was in pristine condition. Harry was in utter awe, he had never seen anything so magnificent.

"This makes Greengrass Hall look like a store in Knock turn alley." Said Daphne

"I can't believe that this is all mine… ours" He glanced at Daphne, his wife to be.

They continued looking around the Manor for a while. At the back was another huge open concept living space with massive floor to ceiling windows looking onto the glamorous greenery of the backyard. The house was separated into three sections, the center block and the east and west wings. The Bedrooms were all in the west wing of the house while the east wing contained a library that would put the one at Hogwarts to shame, potion laboratory, a few sitting rooms, a dueling room and many other assorted rooms that Harry and Daphne couldn't find a use for. The Center block contained general living spaces such as the dining room, kitchens, house elf kitchen, living rooms and a wine room among others.

The house was all in great condition wherever they went and upon a quick inspection the wards were in excellent condition. It was in move in condition.

By the time they had finished roaming the house the day was starting to fade and it was getting time for dinner. Unfortunately, the house was not stocked with any food so they would have to go back to Grimmauld for dinner, but tomorrow, Harry and Daphne would be moving in for the rest of their lives.

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

It had been a month since the trial had ended and Bagnold was ecstatic, she had achieved great success in the last month, she had cleaned out the ministry, loaded all the executive positions with people she trusted and had gone through a rigid background check.

Her plan on creating a truce with Voldemort was about to come to fruition. His attacks were becoming less and less and wider gaps between raids each time, it had been almost two weeks since his last attack. She was beginning to suspect that her new foreign policy had really limited his capabilities. She had him right where she wanted.

Unsurprisingly the Rothlilith's had yet to attack but had begun bulking up their forces surrounding their territories. She had managed to make leaps and bounds with her new allies in Russia, Germany and Spain and they were working to together to get their forces in order for the eventual attack.

But perhaps her most proud achievement in the eyes of the voters was that now that the Voldemort threat had started to simmer, Hogwarts was slowly emptying of refugees and that meant it was able to function as a school again. In the next two weeks the school would be reopening, almost a month late mind you. But still enough time before yule to have a little bit of class.

But yet something troubled her, to be precise a certain Bones.

Amelia Bones had recovered long ago from the horrendous attack that had left her maimed, the official report was that she had several broken bones and several missing limbs, a missing lung and many other things out of sorts, it was touch and go for a little bit but she ended up making it out alive, not that anyone cared.

It was a shame to see how the mighty had fallen. Her body was scarred in a few places from the attack, most noticeably a big gash down the side of her face. The dark magic was just too much in those places the healers said.

She almost felt pity for Amelia. But no, Amelia was an enemy, she deserved what she got. Or Did she….

For the first time in her life Millicent was having a battle of ethics rage inside her mind.

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Kyle had been to Toronto, New York City and Los Angeles, three of the biggest metropolitan cities in North America, maybe even the world, and yet Diagon Alley put them all to shame. It was all hustle and bustle and the narrow alleyways and streets didn't help.

The stores here had the strangest names for uses he couldn't possibly imagine. People dressed in clothes that had been out of date for at least 200 years and some of the building looked as old as time itself.

After somehow navigating through that mess Tom led him into a marvelous white marble establishment that screamed wealth and superiority. As he traveled up the steps into the bank he got the feeling that he was about to enter a relic of the past. Once past the doors the two entered a lobby of sorts filled with the same sort of people from the streets, scales moving every which way holding golden bars and silver coins, and creatures you would see in a horror or fantasy movie were working behind desks with the gold. It seemed that these creatures were running the bank and not human beings.

"What are those things?" Kyle whispered to Tom

"Goblins, they run the bank."

"Where are we going?"

"Up to the front desk, we'll go down to your vault."

The two walked the length of the lobby, which was surprisingly long and cavernous up to the front desks which were being helmed by some goblins.

"What do you want?" Queried one of the Goblins with a disgusted look on his face.

"We are here to see the vault of the Kennery family"

"The Kennery family you say, who is here to see it?"

"The young fellow here." Said Tom pointing to Kyle who squirmed sheepishly under the Goblins gaze.

"Does the young one have a key?"

"No but will a blood sample suffice?"

"It will, but you do they know consequences should you fail."

"I do." Said Tom confidently, Kyle was not as confident as Tom was.

The goblin pulled out a piece of paper from underneath the table and a thin needle. The Goblin then gestured for Kyle to put his hand over the paper and he did as he was asked. Next the Goblin pricked his finger, much more forcefully then he needed to mind you. Blood dripped out onto the paper and slowly turned a murky red and slowly words in a different language started to form.

The Goblin looked at the paper for a few seconds reading its contents before looking downwards towards Kyle.

"Everything seems to be in order, Sharknet, please escort the young Mr. Kennery and his associate to vault 643."

"Right Away sir." Piped up a voice from behind the Goblin they had been dealing with.

"Follow Me Please, Mr. Kennery."

Sharknet the Goblin led them down a nearby staircase into a room filled with Karts on a track that vaguely resembled a roller coaster. Once he got on, he realized, it not only resembled a roller coaster but acted much like it as well, with its twists and sharp turns and steep drops.

The kart flew by many circular doors labelled by three digit numbers until it came to a dead halt in front of number 643.

The Goblin then guided Kyle and Tom out of the Kart and up to the door of the vault whose door seemed to be covered in a complex locking mechanism.

The goblin then waved his hand over the mechanism and slowly the locks started to move and unravel themselves until the door was completely bare of and locks. Sharknet then pulled the door open and instructed that only Kyle could go in as part of the security system rules.

Kyle entered the vault, it was pretty small, but it was still filled with gold coins. There were stacks as high as the ceiling in some places.

"How much is this vault worth?"

"According to its latest assessment, there are 5000 galleons."

"How much is that in Canadian money?"

"At the current exchange rate, 39,100 to be exact."

"That's a lot of money."

"Quite, now will you be depositing or withdrawing today?"

"Umm, how much do you think I'll need Tom?"

"Just take 500 galleons to be safe."

"How am I supposed to take 500 of those coins with me?"

"The satchels are charmed, you could probably fit the entire vault if you needed to in one of those satchels. "He said pointing to the satchels hanging from the interior wall of the vault.

"Okay then, Mr. Sharknet, I will take 500 galleons."

"As you wish young sir."

The goblin then somehow without having to count just took a bunch of stacks of coins and threw them in the satchel. After about a minute he was done and handed the satchel over to Kyle.

"Will that be all for today?"

"Actually the Mr. Kennery here did have one more request to make here at the bank. He would like to meet the head of the Davenport family."

"Very well, I will put in a request with the current Marquis."

"Thank you that will be all.

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Harry, Daphne, Sirius, Remus and Narcissa were all sitting around the dining table eating dinner at Grimmauld Place. In about in an hour the five of them would be heading up to Hogwarts to meet with Dumbledore's Order of the Phoenix, whatever that was.

The five of them had grown close over the last month, Nobody understood why, it had just happened. As they ate dinner an owl swopped in and deposited a letter bearing the Gringotts seal before flying off through the nearby window once more.

Harry picked the letter up. It was addressed to the Marquis Davenport, so Harry slit the letter open and read its contents.

_Dear, Harry James Potter, the 5th Lord Potter and 34th Marquis Davenport_

_Kyle Kennery son of Alyssa Davenport and Markus Rothlilith requests a meeting with your grace. To contact Mr. Kennery please send a letter back to the Bank with your reply._

_Sincerely_

_Teebone, Executive Manager of Communications, Gringotts, London, England, Diagon Alley Branch._

"What does it say Harry?"

"Apparently a relative of mine would like to meet with me."

"Why?"

"I don't know, it's just a formal invitation from Gringotts."

"Who is he?" Asked Narcissa

"That's the strange part; apparently he is the son of a Davenport and a Rothlilith. But would he want to meet with me?"

"There hasn't been a union of the two families since 1972, but they and their only child died during the war in 1981, just before it ended."

"It gets even stranger, it says that his legal name is Kyle Kennery, but his Mother's maiden name is Davenport and his Father's is Rothlilith."

"Kennery isn't the surname of any wizard or witch I know, but he's obviously a pureblood if he is who he says he is."

"Well I guess we will all find out in due time."

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Bellatrix was not having a good day; in fact, she wasn't having a good week, or month for that matter.

She had been leading a bunch of raids in the last week, all unsuccessful. Her mission today had been to destroy a village up north and steal all of their supplies, unfortunately the Aurors were already there and of the 30 death eaters that had come with her, only 6 made it back alive.

With the election of Bagnold things had turned into a downward spiral, and her ban of imports and exports, along with her cleaning of the ministry had really put slowed down their progress after a great start.

Naturally that had angered the Dark Lord to no end, and with that came the tortures. And as his right hand witch that was not good, as she was supposedly responsible for most raids.

At first she craved the attention, and the honor that the Dark Lord bestowed upon her, but now the Honor and Attention had stopped and only punishment was served for her. In fact it was getting tiresome.

The fact was, Voldemort no longer needed her as much as he did all those years ago, he had hundreds at his command now to aid him and he no longer needed his old recruits as personal associates.

The first war had been much less organized, the Death Eaters had a sense of superiority and membership like an exclusive club, the Dark Lord treated them as associates. But with the new war the Dark Lord was much more prepared and ran the Death Eaters with a cold hand, he ran it like a business not a club.

And on top of all of that, they were losing the war despite their amazing head start.

She needed to get out and fast.

Her mark started to burn suddenly, which could only mean one thing. She was being summoned by the Dark Lord himself.

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Ollivanders, Ext. 382. BC

Read the Sign above the wand Shop. The two were going to buy Kyle's wand, which apparently was a necessity as a wizard.

The shop itself was quite messy; boxes were strewn about, wands as well. The place looked like it hadn't been cleaned, or renovated for that matter in over 100 years. There were rows and rows of boxes of what were mostly likely wands stacked to the ceiling. Behind the counter at the front stood an old man, who must have been the shopkeeper by the looks of it.

"Ah, I was beginning to think you wouldn't come Mr. Rothlilith." Said the Old Man, presumably Ollivander.

"I'm Sorry Do I know you?"

"Not at all, but I never forget a name." He said with a twinkle in his eye.

"I assume you are here for your first wand, but I wonder why a squib would need a wand, unless of course you're not a squib." Ollivander winked at him as he said talked.

"Could I just get a wand, I have things to do and people to see."

Ollivander nodded with a curious look and ventured into the shelves behind the counter. After about a minute of searching he came back with a few boxes.

"Try this one, Mahogany wood, 13 inches, Dragon Heartstring, very flexible."

"Um what am I supposed to do with this?"

"Just give it a twirl."

Kyle did as instructed and the immediate reaction was null, the only thing that happened was that a lamp in the far corner was lifted off the ground.

"Interesting, try this one."

Kyle once again gave it a twirl, but once again the same lamp in the corner was lifted a few feet off its post.

"No that won't do."

Over what seemed like the next few hours, Kyle and Ollivander went through what must have been almost the entire shops catalogue of wands, with little to no success. Kyle was just about to give up and declare that the doctors back in Canada had been wrong.

Ollivander ventured back into the rows of wands once more and came back with another wand.

"If this won doesn't work I don't know what will." He muttered to himself under his breath.

Kyle once again gave it a twirl. But this time the result was quite different and quite amazing as well. Slowly all the pieces of furniture in the room began lifting off the ground. Ollivander looked on in amazement, and Kyle was bewildered beyond belief.

"Incredible, just incredible"

"What is, that this wand, which no one has ever been able to get a response out of, has worked for you!"

"Why is that so incredible?"

"Because this wand is one of a kind, its core is that of a Veela Hair dipped in Vampire Blood, because of the two cores it is extremely hard to find a wizard or witch who would be able to have the amount of magic to use it, let alone the ability to bond with two cores."

"So this means that I have finally chosen my wand."

"No Mr. Rothlilith, A wand has finally chosen you."

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Harry and Daphne strode into the Great Hall knowing that all eyes in the room were on them. Harry instantly regretted coming.

Narcissa had blatantly refused to come at first but Remus was able to convince her otherwise. Once everybody had gotten over the initial shock of Harry and Daphne, Narcissa held everybody's attention. What was the wife of Lucius Malfoy, doing at an Order of the Phoenix meeting... and holding another man's hand for that matter?

Harry recognized many faces in the room; he saw Nymphadora Tonks and her Mother, both of whom were looking open mouthed at Narcissa, many Members of the Hogwarts Staff, Hermione, Neville and Neville's Grandmother Augusta. They were also many people around the table that he didn't know, they were older were probably the surviving members of the last order.

Instead of the usual 4 table setup, only one table was there, and it was situated in the middle of the room. The five of them took seats at the table closer to Dumbledore who was situated at the head.

"I hereby call this meeting of the 2nd Order of the Phoenix into Order."

"Albus, why is she here?" Asked Andromeda

"Narcissa _Black_ is here upon my invitation. That should mean enough, if I trust her so should you." Dumbledore Spoke

"She is married to Lucius Malfoy!"

"Narcissa is-"

"I can defend myself Headmaster!" Narcissa said coldly with a glare that would put Voldemort in his place.

"Oh look, the death eater can speak." Andromeda said in a mocking tone which rivalled that of their older sister Bellatrix.

"Shut Up Traitor! You have no idea what is like to live every day bound to some bastard who treats me like filth, living life in fear and in shadow, not being able to have control over your own son, all because your own sister wasn't brave enough to go through with the contract! I could care less that you didn't want to be a black, or that you didn't want to be a Death Eater, but to throw me to the hounds just so you could have your dream world, that was the day you stopped being family, that was the day you became a traitor to your own blood!" Tears began to pool under Narcissa's eyes.

"You were my older sister, you were supposed to protect me, and I loved you! And you repaid me by sentencing me to watch powerless as Bellatrix fell insane and the Black empire crumbled. I trusted you! Apparently trust means nothing to you!"

"I was young and in love, that is why I did the things I did, you on the other hand ate out of the palms of our father and mother, you were just too cowardly to get what you want!" Andromeda countered.

"How dare you call me a coward? I had no choice, I stayed behind to protect my family and to protect Bella while you ran away, you didn't even tell anyone, you just got up and left, I was brave enough not to run away, I faced my fate. I had so many opportunities to run away but I stayed, I was not cowardly enough to run away and let the Dark Lord kill everyone I ever loved."

"They ended up getting killed anyways, you failed to protect them."

"Well at least I tread unlike you, you pathetic waste of space."

"Evil Hag"

"Voldemort's Bitch"

"Cowardly Cunt!"

"QUIET!" Dumbledore's voice interrupted the heated argument

"You're personal vendettas are not what we are here to discuss. You two obviously have some things that need to be sorted out but here is not the place for them."

"Onto other business, I have called this meeting into order because I and Minister Bagnold need some help. You see, we believe that Voldemort's forces are dwindling as are his supplies, if we offer a truce, in order to combat the bigger threat the ICW, he is in no position to refuse."

"We need to locate his headquarters and in doing so we will assemble a strike force go in and offer the truce."

"And if he doesn't accept" Daphne asked.

"Then we destroy him, while the emissary goes in, we will have the perimeter surrounded by aurors and unspeakables who will be setting up wards around the existing on so as to prevent escape."

"This sounds more like a treaty then an equal truce." Minerva McGonagall said.

"It is what must be done to defeat he who must not be named, as of yet, no one at the Ministry has volunteered for the role of emissary, so would anyone here like to volunteer?"

"I will." Said a voice which to no one's surprise everyone recognised and all eyes turned to Harry.

"No absolutely not, I will not send a minor in to do this job, you are thoroughly under prepared."

"I think you underestimate me, you say it is my destiny to face him, so why not?"

"Because you are not yet ready."

"When will I be ready then?"

"I cannot speak in absolutes."

"Fine, I see how it is." Harry huffed.

"Any other volunteers?" Dumbledore asked ignoring Harry's last comment.

"No? Well I hope in due time we can get one. Well that should be all for tonight."

Most people filled out after the short but informative meeting. Andromeda stormed off to talk with Dumbledore privately while Nymphadora went back to work. Overall most people felt annoyed with Dumbledore for dragging all of them to Hogwarts just so he could get a volunteer for a suicide mission.

Harry didn't really care, he was coming to talk to Dumbledore anyways, and he needed to find out about schooling arrangements for next week when school would be starting up again.

Harry went over with Daphne to talk to Hermione and Neville, Remus and Narcissa were leaving at that point and Sirius had stricken a conversation with McGonagall and Augusta Longbottom.

"Harry it's been so long, you are coming back for your fifth year right?" Hermione said as she embraced Harry.

"Of course, Daphne and I both are coming back."

"That's wonderful! Can you believe school is starting a month late though! We've already missed out on so much time we needed to practice and learn for our OWL'S!"

"Hermione relax, I'm sure that we will be educated properly to pass our exams."

"You're probably right. So how have you been Harry?"

"Great and you?"

"Amazing, Neville and I just returned from Greece, it was so beautiful."

"Daphne and I visited Davenport Manor this morning, it is gorgeous, and we will have to have you over soon"

"When are you guys moving in?"

"In the next few days-"

Suddenly Dumbledore dashed out of the room followed By Andromeda; both looked very worried and confused. Naturally the rest of the Great Halls' occupants followed suit.

Dumbledore was quite spry for a man of his age and was running at the speed of an average man.

"Headmaster what is wrong?"

"The wards, they have told me that there are two trespassers out near the front gates."

Soon enough the small group was out of the castle and onto the lawn. The sight they saw was quite unexpected and gave everyone quite the jump.

There on the Hogwarts lawn, lay Draco Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange, bloody, beaten and maimed.

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Kyle had a hard time sleeping that night. That day had been full of mystery and magic, frankly some of the new ideas that they introduced scared him. On top of all that his parents were dead and he was having a hard time coping.

He didn't know how he would carry on. But he had to live his life, if not for himself then for his parents. Tomorrow he would be meeting his head of family and hopefully he would start to make sense of things and hopefully move on with his life.

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Draco Malfoy woke up to the familiar surroundings of the Hogwarts Medical Wing; the only difference was that he had been bound. In the bed next to him was Bellatrix and sleeping in a chair between the two beds was his mother. The beds were surrounded by privacy screens and most likely heavy charms.

Last Night had been one for the history books, the day Bellatrix had finally snapped...again.

Last night was supposed to be Draco's proudest moment; he was to be marked last night. However during the initiation, Bellatrix stunned the Dark Lord grabbed Draco and had run with him out of His hideout and apparated to the one place the Dark Lord would never find them, Hogwarts Castle, unfortunately in the process the Death Eaters with the help of a quickly revived Dark Lord had done a lot of Damage to the two of them.

The curtain to the privacy screen pulled back allowing Madam Pomfrey to enter.

"Ah Mr. Malfoy, you seem to be awake and in better condition."

"Maybe you could do something about the binds? I am a 16 year old boy, what threat do I pose?"

"Sorry it is standard procedure; I can unrestraint you when I have ascertained that you pose no threat."

"When will that be?"

"After Dumbledore comes and hears your story."

"And what about Aunt Bella?"

"She will most likely be sent back to a ministry holding cell once she has recuperated, however as of right now she will have to at least stay the week, Her cornea needs repairing, she is missing all the bones in her left leg and right arm, several bones also need regrowing in various places and many of her organs have been severely injured. You however have a few broken bones that need mending, and then you should be fine."

"Are you that incompetent that it takes you 48 hours to repair a few simple broken bones?"

"No Mr. Malfoy, They were broken with dark magic and it will take days to understand some of the curses that have injured you and repair them." She said bitterly.

"When can I expect the Headmaster?"

"In the next few minutes, he wanted to see you as soon as you awoke and I have called for him."

The next few minutes were spent waiting for the Old Coot to arrive. Draco wanted to leave. He needed some time to think, he had been ready to get the Mark and become the Dark Lord servant just a few hours ago, but now that he was free….. He wasn't so sure.

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Harry was going to meet with Kyle alone, Daphne and Sirius had wanted to get a start on moving into the Manor so he had decided to go alone. He was too meet Kyle at the Leaky Cauldron which surprised him; what would a man of riches be doing in the Leaky Cauldron.

He walked into the Leaky Cauldron wearing a dark cloak hiding most of his features so as not to reveal his identity to anyone and above all to avoid suspicion. He walked up to Tom the barkeep and asked him where he could find Kyle, he told him that Kyle had reserved Private room in the back and that he was currently waiting for him there.

Harry then went in search of the room, it was funny, even though he had stayed at the Leaky Cauldron for half the summer before, and he had never gone into one of the private rooms in the back.

Soon enough he found the room Kyle had reserved. Inside Kyle was sitting down waiting.

His immediate reaction was of surprise; Kyle was actually quite young, maybe a year younger than himself. Instead of Robes like a normal wizard of his namesake would wear, he was wearing muggle clothes, jeans and a tee shirt with a muggle band name on it. The kid screamed Squib all over him.

"Are you the Marquis Davenport?" Asked Kyle.

"Yes, and you are Mr. Kennery?"

"Correct, are you going to sit down?"

"Yep, let me introduce myself properly. My name is Harry Potter, The head of the Davenport family."

Judging by the fact that there was no sign of recognition on Kyle's face, it was almost certain that the boy was a squib.

"I hate to ask, but are you a squib?" Harry asked.

"Is it really that obvious? But yes I was a squib."

"Was?"

"Recently my magical core was super charged and now according to Healers I am magical."

"That is impossible." Well, Harry didn't really know that but he didn't want to seem unsure of himself in front of a stranger, If there was won thing that Daphne and Sirius had taught him about being a Head of House, a Noble one at that was not to show any weakness.

"They said that as well, but their tests said differently."

"Well okay, so you are a squib who has become magical, how does this involve me?"

"Because my parents are dead now and I need to ask for protection from those who would seek to dissect me, apparently the backing of an archaic and noble house would warn people off."

"First off, I am truly sorry for your loss, but why would you chose the Davenports? The Rothlilith's would probably be more influential and provide better protection, or why not pretend to be a Muggleborn?"

"I was told that the Rothlilith's would want to use me and that it was dangerous to be a Muggleborn in this climate so it made better sense to become a member of the Davenport family."

"May I ask you have been telling all of this to you?"

"An Old Friend of my parents, he's gone now." Kyle said, a hint of malice in his tone when speaking of the old friend.

"Okay, so let's be clear, you would like to become a member of my family so that I can provide protection for you."

"Correct."

"I don't see how I can say now without having a moral quarrel. But this will get complicated, you will need to be magically educated as you need to be able to control your magic or risk losing it and paperwork might get complicated."

"Okay, so what next."

"We're going to Davenport Manor, our family seat."

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Bellatrix woke up in a place she hadn't set a foot in since she was 18, almost 25 years ago, but still it was the place she had always felt the safest, the one place Voldemort could never touch her.

She had never felt unsafe at Hogwarts, she always had family here to protect her and comfort her. She and Sirius used to joke about one day becoming professors together here one day.

Oh Sirius, how they used to be such great friends, sure she was friends with Cissy, Andy and Reggie and the other kids, but she had always felt a closeness to Sirius, the little brother she never had.

But that was all before she was enticed into Voldemort's arms. Rodulphus had been so kind and charming, he had lulled her into a sense of security, but he slowly changed her, with every touch she was brought closer to the side she had at one point resented. He opened her to new ideas, to new magic. She slowly started to drift away, from her friends and from her family; the breaking point was her final conversation with Sirius before they went down their respective paths, which ironically ended up in the same place.

After their fight, she felt that Sirius, her last friend had abandoned her, and that she had nothing left to lose. So that night she pledged her allegiance, she believed in the cause, It had all been so appealing, they offered her everything she had ever wanted, power and wealth.

And she believed in it.

She fought for it till the bitter end, spending 15 years in Azkaban for it. The cause had been what kept her sane, the thought that one day Voldemort would return and everything he promised would come true. But when he returned, he was not the same man he had been 15 years prior, he was much more angry, filled with a vengeance to destroy Harry Potter and his associates, no longer was it a fight for the cause, it was a fight for revenge, revenge on those who had wronged the Dark Lord. When Narcissa had run away and he had tried to kill her it had been almost too much, Narcissa and her may not have been as close as they once were, but she was family, and blood is thicker than water. The last straw for her was the recruitment of her nephew, a mere 15 year old; Azkaban had changed her just not the way the Dark Lord had wanted. It might have been too late for her, but it was not too late for him, so she made the choice to run away, she took Draco and ran, she needed to get away at all costs.

And so here she was... restrained to a Hogwarts hospital bed, probably severely injured... a malnourished body that hadn't had a proper meal in over 15 years and a sister who she thought to be dead sitting next to her.

Bellatrix hoped that they wouldn't send her back to Azkaban, maybe they could rescue her or something, but after she all she had done there was no chance. Her only regret was that she hadn't realized the truth sooner; the truth that Dark and Light were two sides of the same coin, both represented a fight that neither could win. She didn't regret what she had done, in fact she was proud of her accomplishments, and she was widely recognized as one of the greatest sorceress of all time, if not the darkest, she had received tutelage under one of the greatest minds and sorceress of all time. She only regretted what she had become, she hated how clouded her vision had become, how one sided everything had seemed, she regretted how much time she had wasted of her live fighting for a cause that would never be achieved.

An empty, hollow cause.

She could still care less, who won the war, but she was done fighting, she was done fighting a war that would never be won, a war with no end result, she was done seeing the damage it caused to her loved ones, the relationships it had destroyed. The pain it had caused.

She was done.

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1. Hey, hope y'all liked the chapter!

2. On the subject of Bellatrix, it goes without saying that my Bella has a severe case of the OOC, but it won't be the light!Bellatrix or the good!Bellatrix who was under mind control, but she isn't fighting for Voldemort anymore, I would call her more of a freelance necromancer now. No, there will be no shocking twist where Bellatrix did not participate in the torture of Neville's parents.

2. Kyle is the last O.C I promise, there are no more O.C's after him.

3. I'm sorry if there is any mistakes (Grammatical or Reductive Canon) in this chapter, but I really wanted to get this chapter out today, because Today is a very special anniversary for me, it marks a whole year that I have been a registered user, that might not seem like along time for alot of my readers, but it nonetheless important to me.

4. Huge Thanks to my amazing Beta Anka7995

5. The Next Chapter is probably another month away, Uni has started again. Next chapter will pick up right where this one left off though, so one month for us will be like a few seconds for the wonderful characters of Harry Potter.

6. On another side note, There's a rumor going around that J.K Rowling is currently writing an eighth book, anyone else know something about that? I saw a few articles about it across the web on twitter, facebook, yahoo and whatnot.

7. For reading, and as always please review! I love to hear what you guys think, however please make it at least respectful.

P.S A Big round of applause to the 200 people who have Favorited and the over 350 people who have followed! It makes me so happy to have so many people loyally reading my story!


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